#maleeha writes

[lam-ila]

Sing Your Heart Out as Your Ex Watches || Mat Barzal

Summary: Singer!reader performing at the NHL All Star Game while their ex watches.

Word Count: 851

Warnings: jealousy from an unnamed ex who plays in the NHL, slight mention of said ex being a bad boyfriend (please let me know if you find any more that i should add)

Maleeha's Masterlist

a/n: this short little fic was inspired by this post by @islesnucks and was quickly written (busted it out in an hour)

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

LIKES ARE GREAT, REBLOGS ARE BETTER ♡

You were an up and coming singer, and was pretty well known in the hockey world. Growing up a hockey fan had a big influence in your life; your most famous music video included you wearing some hockey gear, grabbing the attention of hockey players, fans, and organizations.

You were already connected to the hockey world with your boyfriend, Mat Barzal, being a well known hockey player for the New York Islanders. Unfortunately, you were also connected to the hockey world through your ex... who also played in the NHL.

You had been broken up with your ex for two and a half years and you had been with Mat for a little over a year. You couldn't have been happier with Mat, he was everything your ex wasn't: sweet, respectful, kind to your family and friends, the list could go on and on. So when you were confirmed to be at the NHL All Star weekend before your boyfriend was, he couldn't have been prouder.

A few weeks later, the All Stars were announced and Mat's name was listed as one of the players; it was your turn to be proud of him. However, upon reading the list of players who would accompany Mat as All Stars, you frowned at the sight of your ex's name. You brushed it off as your joy that Mat was an All Star overpowered your sadness that your ex was also an All Star.

Since you were performing, you were listed as one of the four celebrity captains. You of course drafted your boyfriend as your first pick resulting in the fans, both yours and his, going wild in person and over social media. Your and Mat's names were all over social media the entire weekend with your ex's name sometimes following your names as he seemingly didn't even try to hide his jealousy that you were happily with Mat. Your ex's obvious jealousy didn't bother you at the time, you were secure in yourself and your relationship as was Mat.

Your and Mat's names appearing on social media only increased on the Saturday, when you were behind the bench that Mat sat upon. Clips of you strategizing play and semi-flirtatiously bossing Mat around were all over the tags relating to the both of you and the NHL All Star Game.

You were set to perform after the second game of the day before the third and final game of the day. At first, you were excited to perform, however, as the All Star weekend went by, you were increasingly getting nervous about performing in front of your ex. As you were getting ready with your backup dancers in the arena's home team locker room, you realized how un-ready you were to perform in front of him. Your backup dancers noticed your nervousness and one of them texted Mat that he needed to come to calm your nerves. Once Mat arrived, you didn't look his way as he expected, signaling that you were lost in your thoughts.

"Hi." He said after cautiously approached you and sitting next to you, worried that he would abruptly break you out of your thoughts.

"Hi." You repeated, a slight smile accompanying your greeting as you met his gaze.

"What's going on in that pretty head of yours?" He asked, gently grabbing your hands and holding them in his as if saying 'you can't avoid this conversation'.

"I have to perform in front of him." You didn't have to say his name for Mat to know that you were talking about your ex. "Him being here wasn't bothering me Thursday, or yesterday, or even earlier today, so I don't know why I'm worried."

"I do," You looked at Mat, confused as to how he knew, but you didn't. "You're worried because it's the first time you perform in front of him since you broke up with him. And I completely understand that." Mat paused, allowing you to talk if you wanted to, but your silence showed him that he could continue. "But you know what? He's been jealous this whole weekend. He can't stand how well you're doing for your singing career without him by your side."

"And he can't stand that I have a boyfriend who's better than him in every way." You added, causing Mat to giddily smile and blush. You took a deep breath, your hands still in Mat's, before adding, "I can do this."

"Now that's the positive self talk I want to hear!" Mat squeezed your hands before letting go, standing up to lean down and give you a chaste kiss on your lips. "I want you to go out there and sing your heart out while your ex watches. Relish in the glory because you've earned it."

"I have?" You asked, standing up in front of Mat.

"You have," he reassured. "and that's all your work that allowed you to get to this point." With one last kiss - the good luck kiss as Mat called it - he was gone, re-joining his NHL peers on the ice waiting for your performance of a lifetime.

——————————

NHL taglist: @readyfreddy @jostystyles @jimothystu @typical-simplelove @2manytabsopen @11livpangburn @matthewkniesys @lifeofpriya @fallinallincurls

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[jostystyles]

hi love! could i have treat you better by shawn mendes with quinn hughes? 💕💕

yes please!!!!!! 😭😭

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[ilyasorokinn]

second times the charm , juraj slafkovsky

note, thank you to @antoineroussel for yet another amazing fic exchange! you rock! this fic is for bestie maleeha (@lam-ila). i decided to do grumpy-sunshine (inspired by keeley and roy from ted lasso) and second chance romance. grumpy-sunshine is also one of my fav tropes so i really hope you enjoy this! :) another note, breaking my own rule of not writing for players under 20, but i couldn't pass up the opportunity to write for my favorite slovak. last note, this fic is part of "the lover series", my series about 25 different kinds of relationships. this relationship falls under "second time around". check out this masterlist for more. pair, juraj slafkovsky x reader summary, juraj and y/n were... something some years ago. but that was done and over with. so when y/n comes back as a medical team member, juraj knows there's only so much time to avoid all his problems. warnings, juraj gets injured and i'm not trying to romanticize it. this is my best attempt at grumpy-sunshine, and idk how much of this it really is, but i tried. i tried to leave out as much angst as i could, but with a second-chance romance, there is bound to be some angst, but i promise it'll all lead to a happy ending, i promise! word count, 6869 words (literally the longest thing i’ve ever written on here)

(gif not mine)

You and Juraj had something. You weren't officially dating but you were more than friends. It didn't last too long but lasted long enough to leave an imprint on you. After a while, you started to think about him and it didn't hurt and you moved on with your life.

Juraj had done the same, but his moving on wasn't as progressive as yours. He was almost a shell of who he was before. He was once smiley but that all changed after your breakup.

You knew Juraj played hockey and knew he wanted to play in pro in the big leagues, you just didn't expect the big leagues to be in the same city as you.

You had been hired by the Canadiens a little before the season ended, so you had heard the rumors about Wright being drafted first, but when you watched the draft and watched Juraj, instead, walk across that stage first, you were just as shocked as everyone else was that arena.

On the first day of work, you had given yourself pep talk after pep talk in the mirror, while you were getting ready, in case you would run into Juraj.

For the majority of the day, you were in the clear. You had yet to run into him, but towards the afternoon was when more players started coming in for help.

Juraj was one of those players.

When he saw you, he froze. He stopped walking and just stared at you, like a creep. You turned around and stopped the conversation you were having when you locked eyes with him.

"Y/N?" Your coworker, Lorelei called your name, "You okay?" She followed your line of sight and saw you and Juraj having a staring contest.

"Uh, yeah." You blinked, turning back to Lorelei, "Can you excuse me?" She nodded, watching you walk away, over to Juraj, "...Hi." You let out a breath.

"Hi." He nodded, his voice curt and short, but then again, he was only saying one word.

"Can we talk?"

"Don't think there's anything to talk about." He shrugged.

"Come on, don't be like that."

"Be like what?"

"Can we just talk, Juraj?"

"We really don't have anything to talk about, Y/N." He told you, his tone so sharp it felt like it was stabbing you in the chest.

You picked up how much he really really did not want to talk to you, so you took it as your cue to not push him, "Right." You nodded, "Yeah, right." You walked past him, trying to hide the embarrassment you felt.

Right as you walk out, Arber walked up to him, "Who's she?"

"Ex," Juraj responded gruffly.

"Huh," Arber nodded, "Guessing you didn't end on the best terms?"

"You would be right."

"I gotta say, she looked pretty upset when she was leaving." Juraj simply ignored him.

-

"... and I gotta tell you, I was this close to just punching him in the face." Your date, Milo, laughed as he explained yet another story.

This date, so far, was not going very well.

Milo wasn't a bad guy, it was all you. You subconsciously kept comparing Milo to Juraj, and in that sense, they were both very different guys.

You listened to Milo talk for almost the entire night, and for that entire time, you spent it comparing two guys to each other.

"You okay? You've hardly touched your pasta." Milo pointed out.

"Yeah, I'm great." You plastered on a smile, pushing down the internal battle you were having, "Just really tired. Work." You shrugged.

"Work, right." He nodded, looking like he was ready to ask more questions, "You work where again?"

"I work for a hockey team." You answered, not wanting to start by saying you worked for one of the biggest hockey teams in Canada.

"The Canadiens?" He asked.

"Yeah, medical staff." You nodded.

"Wow." His eyes went wide as h sat back. in his seat. You could practically feel the questions he was gonna ask next, "Do you get free tickets?"

You deflated. It was always 'Do you get free tickets?' and 'Do you know so and so?'.

"I don't get free tickets." You shook your head, leaving out the discounted part.

"Have you met Caufield and Suzuki? Ooh, and the new draft? The Slovak?" He asked excitedly.

You resisted the urge to roll your eyes, "Yeah, I know them all."

"Wow, that is so cool!" He exclaimed, "I have like a million different questions to ask those guys."

The rest of your date was spent with you answering all of Milo's questions about your work, and usually, you would happy to answer questions about work but in this case, Milo didn't care about what you did for the team, he only cared about the team.

-

Walking on the treadmill was something you found relaxing. Exercise wasn't relaxing to you, but something about walking on the treadmill and just listening to music gave you peace.

You were so in your head, you didn't even realize that someone had started walking on the treadmill beside you and started talking to you. You only realized Arber was talking to you when he tapped you on the shoulder.

You nearly jumped out of your skin when you felt him tap you, "Whoa!"

"Sorry, didn't realize you couldn't hear me."

"Yeah, I listen to my music really loud." You took out your earbuds, "So, can I help you with something? Any injuries?"

"No, I just had some questions." He looked almost shy.

"Can't promise I'll have all the answers." You turned to him.

"You and Juraj..." You sighed, "Didn't expect that reaction." He chuckled.

"I don't know what Juraj told you,"

"Said you were exes and that was it."

"And that's all there is." You shrugged.

"No, come on, I saw your face when you walked out of the locker room the other day, and it was not a happy one."

"The end of our relationship wasn't the best." You furrowed your brows together, trying to find the words, "He wasn't there for me when I needed him. I was putting more effort into the relationship than he was."

"That doesn't sound like Juraj."

"And how long have you known him exactly?" You raised a brow. When he didn't respond, you nodded, "Exactly." Arber watched you and waited for you to continue, "He was a good guy at the beginning, really. He was great. But something changed." You explained.

"I'm sorry." He offered a sympathetic smile.

"Well, if that's all the questions you have..."

Arber got the message and took his leave. He stopped the treadmill, "Thanks."

"Glad I could help." You slipped your earbuds back in and continued your walk.

-

You were watching the game from the medical room. You were lying on the bed in the medbay with Lorelei, eating snacks and enjoying the game.

Everything happened so quickly. One minute Juraj was on the ice and the next he was slammed into the boards by one of the other guys.

The play kept going but Juraj wasn't getting up. You were on your feet, trying to get a better look at what was going on, but when everyone noticed he wasn't getting up, the while was blown and the main medic, your boss Matt, rushed onto the ice.

Matt bent down next to Juraj and was talking to him and you so wished you could've been out there, talking to him. After a lot of waiting, Juraj was helped to his feet, his arms slung over Matt's and a couple other players.

He was shuffled down the tunnel and you could hear the commotion as they got closer and closer to the med room.

They carried him into the room and set him on the bed. You tried to figure out what was going on, "What's wrong?" You asked Matt, fiddling with your necklace nervously.

"I don't know yet. He says his entire left leg hurts, so we're trying. to narrow down where it hurts first." Matt snapped on a pair of gloves as he pushed through the crowd of people surrounding the bed.

Matt started pushing down his leg to find the spot that hurt. He eventually got to Juraj's knee, and when he did, Juraj let out the most pained noise you'd ever heard him make.

They pulled all the padding away and saw that his knee was very dislocated, "Okay, there's our culprit." Matt sighed, running a gloved wrist across his sweaty forehead.

"All right, we're gonna pop it back into place, but it's gonna hurt, I'm not gonna lie." The paramedic in the room told him.

His eyes frantically searched the room and when he found yours, it was almost like he was begging you to hold his hand. And you couldn't deny him of that, so you made your way over and hand his hand.

"Okay, are you ready?" Juraj looked anything but ready, "All right, on the count of three." The paramedic nodded.

You looked over at Juraj and saw the nervous look written all over his face, "You're gonna be okay." You reassured, "Just... think of something else. Think of what you're gonna eat after this or your favorite candy."

"I can't." He shook his head, eyes watering at the pain.

"It's gonna be okay. I promise." You squeezed his hand, "My favorite is Milkyway." He was barely paying attention to as he gritted his teeth in pain. You were tempted to kiss his forehead or something, but that wasn't your job anymore. The most you could offer was your hand.

"One, two, three." Once she hit 3, she snapped his knee back into place. He cried out in pain, "All right, you're all done, Juraj." She announced, "Now we're going to take you to the hospital so you can get further accessed and we'll put a splint on there."

"When will I get to play?" Even with tears on his face, all he was worried about was playing hockey.

"Let's just worry about your getting your knee accessed then we'll worry about playing." The paramedic smiled, pulling up the rails on the gurney.

Your hand slipped from his and you watched them wheel him away, "He's gonna be okay." Lorelei told you, wrapping an arm around your shoulders. You took a deep breath, closed your eyes, and let Lorelei hug you.

-

After dislocating his knee, Juraj was out for almost 7 weeks, you didn't see much of him, but after he was cleared, it almost seemed like you were seeing him everywhere.

And it was intentional, on Juraj's part. After the accident, it was almost like a wake-up call.

Even though you weren't together, you showed up and were there for him in the medbay, holding his hand and reassuring him that everything was going to be okay.

During practice, you just so happen to be hanging by the bench with Lorelei, talking about your plans, "You sure you don't want to come out with us?" Juraj heard Lorelei ask as he made his way over to the bench to get some water.

"I'm fine, really." You insisted.

"All right, but next time, you're coming out with us."

"All right." You smiled. She walked back down the tunnel, but you sat down on the bench, watching practice.

"You should go out with them." Juraj voiced. As the words escape him, he wanted to hit himself. You turned to him, brows furrowed together, "Sorry, that was wrong."

"It was." You nodded, "But I want to know why you think that?"

"Because I know you, Y/N. You probably don't have many friends right now,"

"Okay, rude." You crossed your arms.

"But am I wrong?"

You hesitated, "No."

"See? So, go. Hang out with them. You'll have fun." He insisted.

"Why are you pushing this so hard? We don't like each other."

"Who said I didn't like you?" Juraj asked in a tone that made him sound offended.

"You did when you brushed me off the other day." You reminded him. You raised a brow when he stayed quiet, "I'll see you around, Juraj." You followed in Lorelei's footsteps and made your way back down the tunnel.

-

With Matt's secondhand medic being out with a cold, you were taking his place behind the bench. So, during the game, you were standing towards the entrance of the tunnel where the second medic usually would be.

"This your first time on the bench?" Cole Caufield asked.

"That obvious?"

"If your good at your job, you've got nothing to be worried about." He offered you a smile.

"Thanks." You nodded.

Juraj, who was sitting further down the bench, saw Cole talk to you. He saw you laugh at a joke Cole made, a total cliche. He looked away, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.

"Not your girl." He muttered to himself in Slovakian so the guys sitting next to him assumed he was just giving himself a pep talk.

-

A couple of days later at practice, you were carrying some supplies to the medbay. Your headphones were in and you were in work mode. You happened to walk past the hallway where the locker room was and happened to make eye contact with Juraj.

He was entering the locker room post-practice. You were prepared to just ignore him and walk past him but he offered you a smile, and when you returned it, confused, he stopped in his tracks and made his way over to you instead.

You furrowed your brows together and set the boxes in your hands on the ground, taking out your earbuds, "Juraj." You greeted, "Hope you aren't injured."

"Nope, all good." He shook his head.

"Good." You nodded.

You stood in silence, bouncing on the balls of your feet as you waited for him to say something, "Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"I just... I wanted to say I had no right for talking to you like I did the other day." You were surprised and your face probably showed it, "So, I'm sorry."

You smiled softly, "Thanks. I appreciate it." He smiled in response before turning and heading back over to the locker room. You watched him, a smile on your face and for the first time in a while, Juraj was the cause of it.

-

Somehow you ended up working the medical staff booth at the Habs event. You were standing behind the table, watching as everyone passed by, seemingly having no interest in the medical staff.

You sighed for the umpteenth time, "Excuse me?" You heard a familiar voice and looked up, "Have you ever stitched up Suzuki?" Juraj joked.

You playfully rolled your eyes, "Not yet, but I have stitched up a few of the other guys, ya know, the nobodies." You joked. He nodded along, "Some rookie, Slav-Slafkovsky I think his name was." You laughed when his jaw dropped.

"A nobody? Really?"

"I'm just kidding. You aren't a nobody. You're somebody." You punched him softly in the shoulder from across the table.

"So, where are all the people? Why is your booth so empty?"

"Since you asked so kindly," You joked, "Captain Suzuki and Cole are doing a signing so everyone's probably over there. I'm surprised you aren't over there."

"Why would I be over there?"

"'Cause all your friends are over there and you'd get to take pictures and sign autographs." You shrugged.

"Well, I'm hanging out with a friend right now and I can sign autographs and take pictures from here."

"That's not really what this booth is for, but it's the thought that counts." He shrugged, "Also, we're friends?"

"Are we not?"

"I don't know it's just we don't really talk and on the off chance that we did talk, you were either brushing me off or apologizing."

"I thought we were friends."

"I don't know, I guess we can try to be."

You smiled. He smiled back.

-

Juraj had been replaying your conversation over and over in his head for almost 2 weeks before he finally gathered up the courage to talk to you again.

You and Lorelei were talking in the little dining hall in the arena. He approached your table and when Lorelei saw him approaching, she smirked before pushing her chair out and walking to the fridge, pretending to be busy.

You smiled at Juraj when he sat down next to you, "Hi."

"Hi." He looked nervous.

"Can I help you with something this fine afternoon, friend?" You asked, taking a bite of your sandwich.

"I've been thinking about our conversations for the past 2 weeks." He took a breath, "And I don't want our first conversation as real friends to be an apology, but I need to apologize to you for how our relationship ended." You nodded along cautiously.

"I was a horrible partner to you, and I can't go back in time and change things or stop what happened, but I can offer an apology."

You smiled softly, "I appreciate that. It means a lot." You reached over and grabbed his hand, "But now I think it's time for us to stop apologizing. Well, unless you do something crappy again."

He laughed, "All right, no more apologizing, unless I'm a jerk again."

"Starting now." You held out your hand.

"Now." He nodded, shaking your hand with a laugh.

-

"So, Juraj is doing his first post-practice media since his injury." Lorelei brought it up to you as you were cleaning the medbay.

"Is he?"

"Yeah, he is." She smirked, "Just wanted to let you know, ya know, just in case you want to skip out on me."

"I'm not gonna ditch you." You laughed, but paused, "Hypothetically..."

"Go." She didn't even let you finish.

You smiled before running out of the room and rushing to find the media room where Juraj would be. You stopped in the doorway, surprised that you found the space practically empty save for one reporter sitting in the back row.

Juraj had yet to come in, so you took a seat in the front row. When he did walk into the room, he froze briefly before making his way up to the table.

He locked eyes with you as you flashed him a smile, "Don't all raise your hands at once." He joked.

The man in the back raised his hand, and Juraj called on him, seeing as he was the only guy in the room. He asked his question, and Juraj gave a very "hockey player" response.

Then an awkward silence fell over the room, and Juraj waited for the reporter to ask a question. When he didn't, you quickly raised your hand. He looked surprised when he saw your hand shoot up.

Your arms were moving faster than your brain as you quickly tried to come up with a question, "Yes, in the front." He pointed to you, attempting to hide his shock.

"Yes, Juraj." You nodded, "Y/N Y/L/N with Canadiens Today." He smiled, "My question is what's your pregame meal?"

Juraj laughed, "I'm pretty basic. Pasta guy, maybe throw in some veggies if I'm feeling fun."

You got up from your seat and ran around to the row behind you and took a seat again, raising your hand again. He broke into a smile when he caught onto what you were doing, "Yes, you." He pointed to you.

This went on for a couple more questions. You switching sets and asking him a question. You knew this probably wouldn't get published out into the world, but the room was empty you were there, so you might as well ask the questions.

After media was over, the reporter walked out of the room, but you stayed. Juraj smiled at you, "Thank you for that. It was embarrassing as it was to walk into an empty room."

"We're friends. It's what friends are for." You shrugged, sending him a smile.

-

The Canadiens charity dinner/gala was an event you were looking forward to. Kirby had asked you to go, purely as a friend. He didn't have a date and you were friends.

"Do you want a drink?"

"Sure, thanks." You smiled.

Kirby headed over to the bar while you took in the decorations around the room, "You look nice." Juraj complimented as he approached you.

"Thanks." You smiled, looking back at the large lighting fixture hanging from the ceiling.

"So, you came with Dach?"

"He asked, I accepted." You shrugged.

"We could've gone together."

"You didn't ask." You raised a brow at him, "If you had asked, I would have said yes."

Juraj didn't respond, instead, he took in your words as Kirby made his way back over with your drinks in hand, "Hey, good to see you." Kirby greeted, handing you your drink.

"Yeah, you too." Juraj nodded his head, "I'm gonna go find my seat." Juraj turned and walked towards the tables, trying to find his name card.

You and Kirby followed in his footsteps and made your way over to the tables to find your own name tags. To your luck, you were seated at the same table as Juraj and a few of the other guys.

"What a fun coincidence." You laughed, taking your seat, Juraj on your left and Kirby on your right.

"Yeah." Juraj managed a laugh, one that didn't quite reach his eyes but you and everyone else at the table failed to realize.

Once everyone else got situated and seated at their tables, the event organizers gave a speech and a few other higher-up team members.

Eventually, the appetizer came out, and when you got a chance to look at what was on your plate, you stared at it, "Everything okay?" Kirby asked, noticing your intense staring competition with the olives and cherry tomatoes mixed in with the salad on the plate.

"Oh, yeah, all good." You nodded, "Not the biggest fan of olives and tomatoes." Juraj knew it was the understatement of the year. You absolutely hated both of them.

You pushed the olives and tomatoes to the side of your plate, trying not to make a scene. Juraj, without even thinking, reached over and scooped the two things off your plate and onto his.

You stared at him, watching him eat the olives and tomatoes from his own salad, "What're you doing?"

"You hate them." He shrugged as if it was nothing.

"Juraj..." You sighed.

"What? Were you gonna eat them?" He asked.

"No."

"Then why waste food?" He shrugged again. You laughed, shaking your head and reaching for your drink, rejoining the conversation.

Juraj felt almost like he had won. He made you smile and that was a win in his book.

-

You were slipping a shirt over your head when you heard a knock on your hotel room door. This was one of the first roadies you and Lorelei were given the "okay" from Matt to come.

You assumed it was Lorelei but when you opened it, you were surprised to find Juraj instead, "Oh." You halted in your steps.

"Hi." He stood in the doorway nervously.

"Hi." You smiled, "Gosh, you're shaking like a leaf. Are you okay? Are you cold?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." He nodded, "I was just-I came to ask you-I was wondering-"

"Juraj, geez, it's just me. Calm down, take a breath." You chuckled, watching him stutter over his words.

"Do you want to hang out with me today?" He finally spat out.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I already have plans." Everyone was given the day off so you and Lorelei were planning on checking out the city and being tourists.

"I talk to Lorelei already. She's spending the day with a few of the other guys."

"Wow, you really thought this through." You laughed, "What did you have planned?"

"Well, I've never been to Seattle before, so maybe we can start there?"

"Well, you're in luck, I've been before and I know all the best places."

"Great." You grabbed your bag, a jacket and your room key then stepped out into the hallway together.

You did all the touristy things with Juraj. You visited the Space Needle, visited Pike Place Market, and even got coffee from the first Starbucks.

You tried to convince him it was just overpriced Starbucks that you would have to wait in an hour-long line for, but he wanted the experience and who were you to deny him of that?

After spending the entire day exploring the city, you and Juraj sat down for dinner at a little lowkey restaurant, nothing fancy, "So, did you enjoy the Y/N Tour today?"

"I did. I'd give you 5 stars."

"Ah, thanks." You laughed, "What was your favorite part of today?"

"The Needle was fun."

"I figured it would be."

"Why is that?"

"'Cause it was my favorite too, and we like a lot of the same things." You answered, taking a bite of your sandwich.

He watched you while you watched the people outside the window. He smiled, taking a bite of his own sandwich as he followed your eyes and people-watched along with you.

Later that night, you and Juraj were walking back down the hallway toward your hotel room, "I'm glad you asked me to be your tour guide today."

"Yeah, well it was either you or Wifi, and don't tell him I told you this, but I think you're prettier than him." You laughed as you slid your room key into the lock.

"Well, goodnight, Juraj. I'll see you tomorrow." You smiled.

"See you tomorrow." He repeated, sending you a smile.

You closed the door and shucked off your jacket and bag. Right as you kicked off your shoes, there was a knock on your door. Your brows furrowed together as you made your way back over to the door.

"Did you forget something?"

"Yeah, I did." He nodded, "Can I kiss you?" You blinked like a fish, trying to comprehend what he said, "I would've just gone for it without asking, but you always tell me consent is important."

Your brain started working again, and you smiled, "Yeah, you can kiss me." You nodded. He leaned forward, cupping your cheek and kissing you. You smiled as you wrapped your arms around his waist, pulling him closer to you.

As you pulled away, you could see something in his eyes. It wasn't regret nor was it joy, he looked conflicted, "Are you okay?" You asked.

Instead of responding, he pushed your arms away and turned in the opposite direction, walking towards his hotel room. He left you standing there, confused.

-

The morning after the kiss, you tried to confront him during breakfast, but by the time you made it down for breakfast, he had already left for practice.

"So he kissed you and bailed?" Lorelei asked.

"Just walked away." You nodded.

"That's strange." She commented, "I'm not a betting woman, Y/N, but if I were, I would bet a whole paycheck that Juraj is still in love with you."

You shook your head with a roll of your eyes, "That's not true."

"Oh, it absolutely is. and your denying it is silly. I know you still like him, maybe even love him."

"I don't love him." You denied once again.

"All right, you don't." She shrugged.

-

Juraj had been avoiding you. He didn't know how to confront you. He kissed you. It had been a good kiss, great even. But for some reason, he ran off.

He knew he had to confront you and admit how he really felt, but the one thing he was scared of more than anything was being rejected. He could handle you hating him and not talking to him and being upset with him, but he could not physically handle you rejecting him.

He had tried on numerous occasions to approach you. He approached you but when opened his mouth, nothing came out. Another time, he, once again, opened his mouth to say something, but someone else called your name and before you noticed him, you were being pulled in another direction.

When he saw you walking down the hall, he knew he had to say something, "Y/N." He called out.

You looked up from your phone and when you saw it was him, you were ready to turn around and walk in the opposite direction, "No, wait, please." He begged.

You slowly turned around to face him, and slid your hands into your pockets, "Can I talk to you?"

"Isn't that what we're doing right now?" He winced at the way the sentence had come out, but he knew he deserved it. After all, he kissed you and then ran off.

"Right, I just wanted to clarify something." You nodded, "I'm sorry for what I did. I didn't mean to run off like that, I swear. I just, I think my legs moved faster than my brain." You were confused and your face must've shown it.

"What I'm trying to say is I wanted to kiss you, and I had it all planned out in my head. I was gonna kiss you, and I was gonna confess my feelings for you, but then I ran because I was scared you wouldn't feel the same way. Still am, by the way. Scared you won't feel the same."

"Juraj..."

"I like you, Y/N, and boy does it feel good to say that. Because I've been holding that in for so long. Longer than I'd like to admit." You simply stared at him, eyes wide.

"Say something." He begged. But you couldn't. You were shocked. He actually liked you. He frowned when you didn't respond, only stare at him. He took your silence as his answer and once again, turned and left you alone again.

-

You sat by yourself in the arena, trying to understand what just happened. You were an artist, but you could draw the look on Juraj's face when you didn't say anything, and it hurt that your brain didn't move fast enough to say anything.

No one was in the arena except for the Zamboni which was going over the ice, but you were sitting in the nosebleeds section so you would be left alone by anyone on the ice.

"What're you doing up here by yourself?" You turned around to see Arber standing a few seats away.

"Thinking."

"Hmm." He hummed, "You and Juraj look the same. You're both moping, which means something happened, so spill."

"I messed up." You told him in a tone that let Arber know that it was more than a little mistake. He sat down in the chair next to you. You filled him in on what happened and he sat there and listened, he didn't interrupt you.

"You know what you have to do?" You looked over at him, "You gotta tell him how you feel. You're both hurting. It's so clear you both still have feelings for each other, and the only way to stop the hurting is to admit the truth. Tell him how you feel, Y/N. What's stopping you?"

"You didn't see his face. He was heartbroken."

"Then go." He told you.

-

You stared at his door, hesitating. After a few mental pep talks, you finally raised your hand to knock on his door. You heard someone making their way to the door, and when it opened, instead of Juraj, you were met with his roommate.

"Are you here for Juraj?"

"Yeah." You nodded. His roommate moved out of the way just enough for you to enter. When you walked in, you looked around.

"He's in his room." He pointed down the hall to Juraj's room. You knocked on his door and waited for a response.

"Come in." You opened the door and saw him laying in his bed, looking just as miserable as you, "What're you doing here?"

"You didn't let me say anything."

"I did. I waited."

"Then that's my fault. I was trying to figure out what to say, but I couldn't get it out."

He stared at you, trying to decipher what was happening, "Are you here to reject me again?"

"No, I wanted to talk to you about something else." You stepped into his room, shutting the door behind you, "I talked with Arber, who gave me some good advice."

"Did he now?"

"Juraj," You took a breath, "I'm sorry I didn't say anything earlier. But I'm here now, and I want to say I feel the same way about you." He raised a brow, "I like you, too. Maybe even love you, but I'm not sure about that yet."

He stared at you the same way you had stared at him when he proclaimed his feelings for you, "I probably always have and always will. Somewhere along the way, I forgot about that because I was blinded by the hurt and pain you caused, but seeing you again and spending time with you, it was like all those feelings came rushing back like a waterfall."

He smiled as he listened to you. He could tell you meant it as he watched you, "You don't have to love me right now 'cause I'll love enough for the both of us."

He jumped out of bed and wrapped his arms around you, hugging you tightly, "I do love you." He spoke into your hair before kissing your head. You smiled, letting out a happy and relieved sigh as you hugged him back, relishing the feeling of having his arms back around you.

-

"Special delivery!" Lorelei announced walking into the medbay with a package in her hands, "Special delivery for one Mrs. Y/N Slafkovsky." She joked.

"Okay, you can stop with the wedding jokes. We aren't married, we're just dating. We're taking things slow."

"I know, but it's still funny." She set the box down on the table. You looked over at her, "What? Are you gonna open it?"

You laughed, grabbing a pair of scissors and opening the box. You smiled happily when you pulled out all the bubble wrap, revealing heaps and heaps of Milkyway bars.

"What is it?" Lorelei asked.

"Milkyway." You pulled out a bar and unwrapped it, taking a bite.

-

"Come on, as my girlfriend you have to wear my jersey."

"I already have a jersey."

"Yeah, with some other guy's name on it."

"I'll be sure to tell your captain he's just another guy." You joked.

"Please?" He begged.

"I'm kidding. Of course, I'll wear it." You grabbed it from him and set it aside. You wrapped your arms around his waist, looking up at him, "Be great."

"Always am." He wrapped his arms around your shoulders.

"Score a goal for me."

"Who do you think I am? That would make me the worst boyfriend in the world. With you in the crowd? Now I've gotta do it."

"I'm in the crowd more often than you'd think." You reminded him, "Behind the bench and all."

"But this is different." He pointed out.

"All right, whatever you say." You smiled, pushing yourself up. He got the picture and leaned down, kissing you.

During warm-ups, he skated past multiple times, slammed into the glass a few times, and right before he skated off the ice, he tossed a puck over the glass to you and winked.

You smiled, slipping into your pocket, "You're making me feel really lonely." Lorelei joked.

"Sorry." You laughed.

"Don't you dare apologize." She nudged you softly.

-

Halfway through the 3rd period, the Habs were up by 2 and things looked like they were only going up from there. You watched as Jake Evans passed it to Anderson who passed it back to Jake. He skated down the ice, looking for someone to pass to.

Juraj hopped off the bench after switching with another player. Jake passed it over to Juraj, who skated around the Yotes player and tricked the goalie.

He looked like he was going left, but instead shot from the right. You jumped out of your seat and hugged Lorelei as the goal horn sounded.

Juraj was pulled into hugs by his teammates as he celebrate. Before he skated over to the bench, he pointed over to you. When you locked eyes, he blew you a kiss, dedicating his goal to you.

You laughed as you felt eyes from everywhere on you. The celly replayed as he skated past you and pointed to you and blew you a kiss.

"I'm calling that the Y/N goal." Lorelei joked, nudging you with her arm softly.

-

When you woke up that morning, you felt like everything was wrong. That could have partly been because you woke up late and accidentally pressed stop instead of snooze. And when you got to work, it felt like things were only going worse.

So, during your lunch break, you found yourself on the treadmill, trying to not cry as the stress of your day got to you. You walked at the slowest speed as you closed your eyes and tried to breathe.

"Hey, I've been looking for you all day." Juraj joined you on the treadmill next to you. He was walking at a faster pace as he talked about his day.

He was telling you a funny story about how practice was going when he looked over and noticed you weren't paying attention, "Hey, you okay?"

You opened your eyes, "No, everything is bad."

"What do you mean?"

"Today has not been good, and I've been trying to turn it around, but it's not working."

"Do you want to keep talking about it?" You shook your head, "Are you gonna cry?" You nodded, "All right." He stopped his treadmill and turned yours off.

You stood at the end of the treadmill as he wrapped you in a hug, letting you cry out all the emotions from the day. He didn't say anything, he only rubbed your back and let you cry, and placed a few kisses on your head.

-

About a month after your first game, you were sitting in a different spot in the arena, but it was still out of your price range if you were to buy your own ticket.

You watched Juraj get into a fight then watched him get ejected. The fight wasn't anything bad and it wasn't any different than any other fight, but something was wrong with him, you could see it.

You gathered your stuff up and made your way down to the locker room. You peeked into the locker room and saw him sitting in his stall, looking as dejected as ever.

He heard your footsteps walking into the room, then looked down, "You aren't supposed to be in here during the game." You ignored him and approached him, "Did you hear me? You aren't supposed to be here."

You sat down next to him and reached for his hand. You didn't say anything, but when you slipped your hand into his, his body deflated. and he melted into you.

You didn't say anything as you wrapped an arm around his shoulders. He leaned down and leaned his head on your shoulder as his body molded into yours.

And that was that. Neither of you said anything. You only sat in the locker room, Juraj clinging to you in silence.

-

You and Juraj were sitting in different rooms in your apartment. He came over after practice and the two of you kind of just stayed in separate rooms doing your own thing.

You made your way out of your bedroom and into the kitchen but as you passed the living room, you saw Juraj sprawled out on your couch. His eyes were closed but you could tell he wasn't asleep.

You set your mug down on the table next to the couch and sat down next to him. You ran your hands up his arm, then leaned down and kissed his cheek.

"You finally done?"

"Almost. One more paragraph then I'm all yours for the rest of the night." He wrapped his arms around you and pulled you down to lay on his chest, "One more paragraph, come on." You laughed.

"That's too much." He whined, closing his eyes as if he were going to fall asleep.

"No, come on. I'm almost done!" You begged. He only pretended to snore. You sighed, laying your head on his chest as you gave in to your fate.

You both eventually fell asleep and when you. woke up, it was much late. You woke up before him and looked up at him tiredly, smiling.

"Creep." He muttered as he opened his eyes and saw you staring at him. You rolled your eyes.

He yawned as he began waking up, "Don't you think it's crazy that almost a year ago you couldn't even be in the same room as me."

"Crazy." He hummed.

"Sometimes good things really do take time." You smiled.

"Well, then I'm glad I waited." He leaned down, kissing you softly.

-

my taglist: @kolsmikaelson @typical-simplelove @mattyybenierss @kidlnthedark @bowen-power @lam-ila @stars-canucks @iwantahockeyhimbo @2manytabsopen @calermakar08 @hamilton160 @Pierrelucduboiis @thescooby-gang @huggybearmylove43 @sammysworldddd @corneliaskates @likeashotofwhiskey @mista-svech @samanthasgone @hockeyboysarehot @nicoleloveshockey @thedukes-56-5 @emma117717 @kaydenissleepy @Yagetintoit @seventieswhore @MichelleKirby30 @jamieeboulos @Coffeeandteaandflowers @bibella8swan @cuttergauth @boqvistsbabe @sophia-bordeleau @luca-fantilli @madison-nhl @repujosty @jayda12 @prisa24 @mitchymainer

add yourself to my taglist!

#this took me like a month so please don't let this flop #nhl imagine #nhl imagines #nhl fic #nhl #hockey imagine #hockey imagines #hockey fic #hockey #taylor writes #taylor writes: hockey #juraj slafkovsky imagine #juraj slafkovsky imagines #juraj slafkovsky x reader #juraj slafkovsky fic #juraj slafkovsky #montreal canadiens imagine #montreal canadiens imagines #montreal canadiens fic #montreal canadiens

[jimothystu]

thank you @lam-ila and @frostysfrenzy for the tag for questions 1-15, and just em for questions 16-23! (maleeha if you wanna do 16-23 consider yourself tagged for those!!)

1. Are you named after anyone? First name no, middle name after a Star Trek character lmao

2. Last time you cried? Maybe two weeks ago?

3. Do you have kids? No, but hopefully in the future

4. Do you use sarcasm a lot? Obviously

5. First thing you notice about people? I don't really know, it varies.

6. Eye colour? Blue/blue-grey

7. Scary movies or happy endings? Happy endings

8. Special talents? I'm a good writer (both creatively and academically), I can sing (some days lmao), I'm decent at painting, and I can cross stitch.

9. Where were you born? Eastern Canada

10. Hobbies? Writing and reading (both fanfiction, romance, fantasy, and poetry), cross stitching, loom knitting, painting, sketching, singing/listening to music, watching baseball and hockey, watching star trek, playing minecraft, playing board/card games, gardening, going for walks, and organizing my hockey cards (it counts bc it takes up so much of my time lmao)

11. Any pets? Right now, just my senior beagle Cookie. But I've had like, 20 pets over the years

12. What sports do you play/have you played? I did dance for maybe 5ish years when I was a kid. Won a couple competitions too!

13. How tall are you? 5'5"ish

14. Favourite school subject? Thought it was science for the longest time but upon reflection I did not enjoy it I just wanted to like it because my whole family are science people. My actual favourite subject was English and social studies/geography-like classes

15. Dream job? Author! And I am leaning towards teacher again, but not an elementary teacher like I used to want to be but an English and social studies teacher in middle/junior high school

16. First ship? Tom Paris and B'Elanna Torres from Star Trek Voyager

17. Three ships? 187 (Tim Stutzle/Brady Tkachuk), 972 (Josh Norris/Thomas Chabot), Xhekovsky (Arber Xhekaj/Juraj Slafkovsky) and Suzufield

18. Last (current) song? Bury Me In Georgia by Kane Brown

19. Last movie? Free Guy (I love actually being confident in this answer for once I literally never watch movies) <- lmao same em

20. Currently reading? Not really anything atm but also so many books lmao. Still trying to finish No Country For Old Gnomes by Delilah S Dawson and Kevin Hearne (I'm just not in the right mood for it), but I wanted to start Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo but again, not in the right mood, so I may go for a sports romance, The Cheat Sheet by Sarah Adams.

21. Currently watching? Star Trek TOS and S3 of The Umbrella Academy

22. Currently consuming? Just water

23. Currently craving? The touch of another human only mildly joking and chocolate chip cookies. maybe i'll make some tomorrow

I shall tag @donttelltheelff @30-x-family @arsi-lehkonen @wonderlandsandi @introvertedperson16 @lifeofpriya and as always, anyone else who wants to do this <3

#tag game #long post #about me

[typical-simplelove]

🌹❤️

Thank you! (This is a bit long, but oh well!

“I love you, babe, but I’m just not seeing it,” Cale said casually. You sucked in your breath as you realized that it was the first time Cale told you he loved you. “It’s just not there.” Cale seemed to be moving past the confession quickly, so you figured you’d move past it quickly, too, and go back to it later.

From One Direction with Cale Makar

Send me a 🌹, and I'll post a little snippet from a WIP

#asks #maleeha 🙂 #claudia writes

[cyberbreadphilosopher]

I really try hard to give you the benefit of doubt. Even when I have to teach you meanings of basic words, I try to look past your lack of background in education. Telling you spellings of everyday words - I try to see it as a learning opportunity for you -- there is no double T in Writing. And Grammar doesn't have an E in it. Few months ago I wanted to quit but decided against switching schools in January. I thought maybe things will get better. Maybe i wasn't in over my head, I thought. Maybe i'm just stressed and things will work themselves out. I have had MULTIPLE naps of the 'I wake up and have no clue where I am or what day it is' variety.

I dismissed teaching as a whole. The very idea of it. But then i didn't. I couldn't.

Like an epiphany, a mother of one of my old students called me to tell me that her child had had his poem published in his school magazine. It might not sound big to you but the child was an F grade student in English who pushed himself to an A within a year. Only because he said, "meiny miss maleeha ka favorite student ban'na tha." He had to leave before the final term two years back. The kid remembered. His mother remembered. I had done nothing more than what i was supposed to.

I couldn't leave then.

I keep looking back at a few things to keep myself sane. To not quit my job. Gifts I’ve received at school that matter more than others:

- A note from a student about how he now knows “writing is a process,” and ending it with “I love you Miss Maleeha. You have always been the teacher i needed"

- An old student's gratitude notes: received every year. Only on teachers' day.

- My favorite super hero - a canvas painting

- My favorite chocolate from a student who told me he remembered it from a random conversation we had about 2 years ago.

- A cake because they thought i had resigned.

- A mother's call from Saudia who told me she mentioned me to the Lord sitting in His House.

- Being tagged in favorite teacher memes.

#beingteacher #teacher #teaching #student #teachersday #words #positivity #life #spilled words #spilled ink #wnq writers #poetry #school life

[gxldenflower]

Pass the happy! 🌻 When you receive this, list five things that make you happy and send this to 10 of the last people in your notifications. 💛💛💛

ahhhh maleeha tysm <333

leo

my mutuals/friends

writing

leo again

horse back riding

#archer answers. #lam-ila #archers friends. #💜💜💜

[tellio]

Decolonize, Rewild, Recolonize

Here is a thought-provoking poem about the colonizing power of language by Maleeha Sattar. The irony of a native from India writing about the colonizing power of language in the language of the colonizer is not lost.  I think we could all identify easily with this.  Aren’t we all colonized by the language of our families?  What would it mean to be rewilded to our original languages?  Would that…

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[lam-ila]

Hotel Room || Brock Boeser

Summary: Brock invites you to a family vacation where you have to share a bed and… well I think you know what’ll happen next.

Word Count: 1,629

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

Maleeha’s Masterlist

a/n: here’s my entry for the 2024 winter fic exchange hosted by the lovely @wyattjohnston ! this was written for @gravestrain . i hope you like it Elle!

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

LIKES ARE GREAT, REBLOGS ARE BETTER ♡

You and Brock had been best friends since high school and you two were very close. You were invited to each others’ family dinners, parties, and vacations. Most recently, Brock invited you to a week long family vacation Cancun. However, this family vacation was different from the other ones you attended as this was a vacation that included Brock’s extended family and you very much wanted to make them like you.

It was a long and tiring commute over to Cancun, but you had finally made it to the hotel you were staying at. Having already eaten dinner, you, Brock, and his family agreed on crashing in the hotel rooms in order to be refreshed for the next few days to come.

You stood in the hotel lobby as you and Brock waited for your room keycards, becoming suspicious when you saw a few of Brock’s cousins in a huddle with their and your room keycards.

“Here’s your keycards.” One of them said while handing Brock the keycards. “Well, see you two tomorrow!” His cousins left for the elevator before either one of you could respond, leaving just you and Brock standing in the lobby.

“They seemed overly excited to give us our keycards.” Brock pointed out, a hint of worry laced within his words.

“They’re probably just excited that we’re at the hotel.” You said in an attempt to ease his mind.

“No, there’s definitely something there hiding from us.” Brock reached for your hand and protectively intertwined his fingers with yours. You knew it was common for him and his cousins to play pranks on each other and you could tell that Brock was worried that they pulled a prank on you.

Once you reached the room and opened the door, you noticed that there was only one bed in the centre of the room.

“Oh you’ve got to be shitting me.” Brock said, taking his hand out of yours and running it through his hair.

“What’s wrong?” You asked, unsure of the problem.

Brock walked over to one of the bedside tables, noticing a hand written note that read ‘have fun’. He turned around in frustration; that was the prank his cousins pulled, they knew to give you a room with two beds and they chose not to.

“I told my cousins to give us a room with two beds and they purposely gave us a room with only one bed!” Brock pointed out, waving the note around in frustration.

“I mean, it’s not that bad.” You reasoned. Was sharing a bed with each other that much of a challenge for Brock? Maybe you were just reading into it too much.

“Yeah, I know.” Brock sighed, easing your worries. “I just didn’t want them to do something to you.”

You took the note out of his hand, confused at the message written on it, but put it aside after realizing it was probably some inside joke between Brock and his cousins.

After you and Brock got ready for bed, you sat one one side of the bed, fully expecting Brock to follow and sit on the other side. Instead, to your dismay, he took the pillow off of his side and placed it onto the floor.

“Brock, you are not sleeping on the floor.” You broke the ongoing silence that was present since discovering the note left by his cousins.

“But there’s… I mean… they…” he stammered.

As he was trying to explain his thoughts, you slowly walked over to him and lightly placed your index finger on his mouth, silently shushing him.

“It’s okay,” you assured while taking your finger off of his lips. “just get in the bed.”

“Is that an order?” Brock teased, a slight smirk appearing on his face.

“Mhm. You and I are both getting in the bed and then we’re going to sleep because it’s a bed and not a big deal.” You explained, trying to convince not only him, but yourself that sleeping together in one bed wasn’t as tragic as it seemed.

“Alright.” He said, picking up his pillow and returning it to the bed. “But if I bother you at any point throughout the night, you wake me up and I’ll sleep on the floor.”

“Okay Brock.” You chuckled, agreeing only to get him to stop suggesting that he slept on the floor.

So there you were, both laying in the same bed with all the lights off minus two lamps which rested on bedside tables next to each side of the bed. Brock faced away from you and you on your back facing the ceiling. Both of your eyes were wide open in thought.

“Hey Brock?” You called out, hoping he wasn’t too tired after a full day of travelling to have a conversation.

“Yeah?” He responded, turning to face you, but you stayed still and continued to look at the ceiling.

“What are we?” You hit him with the hard hitting question. The question he never found the courage to ask in fear of losing you as a friend. “I mean, we’re friends, yeah, but what is all of this going on between us?” You shifted your body so that you were looking at him, wanting to see what his body reaction was to your question.

“What do you mean?” Brock asked, a concerned look fully present on his face.

“That,” you pointed out. “that’s what I mean.”

“Well, I’m concerned because I’m your friend.”

“No Brock, that’s not what I-” You cut yourself off, deciding to drop the topic. “Never mind, just forget I said anything.” You began turning to face away from him, but Brock quickly grabbed your hands to prevent you from turning away. He only dropped your hands once you showed that you weren’t going to turn away.

“Then what did you mean? It’s obvious it’s important to you and if it’s important to you then it’s important to me.”

You took a deep breath as you smiled slightly at his words.

“I mean, are we more than what we think we are? Because last time I checked, people who are just friends don’t act the way we do towards each other and then there was the note on the-”

“That was just a stupid joke my cousins always make about me.” Brock interrupted you to downplay said note which was currently crumpled up in the hotel room’s garbage bin.

“Would you let me finish?” You slightly teased. “What I’m trying to say is that I like being friends with you.”

“Okay, I like being friends with you too.”

You tilted your head to give him a pointed look, indicating you still hadn’t said what you wanted to say.

“I’m still not done.” You explained.

“Oh. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.” You found his hand under the covers and squeezed it in reassurance. “I like being friends with you and sometimes I feel like we’re more than that. Sometimes, I wish that we were more than that.” You paused, waiting for Brock’s reaction. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but no words were spoken. “But I understand if you don’t want that. It doesn’t have to change anything.” You quickly added, still unsure of what Brock thought. Your eyes frantically scanned his face over and over again, looking for any indication of a response. Finally, he broke the silence.

“Sometimes?” He teased.

“What?”

“You only sometimes wish that we were more than that?” Brock laughed softly to himself. “‘Cause I always wish that we were more than that.”

“Really?” A smile starts to spread on your lips, but it drops and you abruptly sit up when you realize: “This is just some sick joke that you’re pulling.”

“Why would you think that?” Brock follows your actions and sits up.

“You really think I would fall for this?” You accused, getting up from the bed. You went to the washroom and started collecting your things, wanting to be anywhere but in a room with Brock.

“I don’t understand.” Brock said, following you into the washroom to try to stop you from leaving. “Why would you think that?” He repeated.

“Just forget I said anything.” You tried to brush past him, but he stopped you in the doorway of the washroom.

“Why would you think that?” Brock repeated a third and final time, this time much slower than the previous two times. He waited for a response, but all you did was look at the ground and not say anything. Brock took your hand in his, gently pulling you to the bed that started everything and you both sat down on it. Letting go of your hand, he softly caressed your cheek until you finally spoke up.

“It’s not a joke.”

“Nope.”

“It was just,” you sighed, unsure of how to get your thoughts out. “too good to be true that I guess I just tried to think of any reason why it wouldn’t be true.”

Brock shifted his body to get a better view of you as you tilted your head to finally look him in his eyes.

“I wouldn’t have invited you here if I didn’t feel that way about you.”

“We always invite each other to family vacations, how was I supposed to know the intent behind this invitation was any different?” You laughed in disbelief, playfully hitting Brock’s shoulder.

“That was my bad.” He laughed along with you.

“So, does this mean that… well… that we’re…”

“Just ask me to be your boyfriend.” Brock abruptly cut you off. “Uh… please?”

Laughing at his eagerness, you asked the question you’ve been wanting to ask for years: “Do you want to be my boyfriend?”

Brock simply hummed in response before finally capturing your lips with his in a kiss.

——————————

NHL taglist: @readyfreddy @jostystyles @jimothystu @typical-simplelove @2manytabsopen @11livpangburn @matthewkniesys @lifeofpriya @fallinallincurls

join my taglist here

#the winter fic exchange 2k24 #maleeha writes #brock boeser #brock boeser x reader #brock boeser fic #brock boeser imagine

[jostystyles]

Hi love!! Can I have 5 times they told each other they would hate them and one time they finally told each other the truth with Matthew Tkachuk?? ❤️❤️

of course you can!! thank you so much for participating!!

2.2k writing challenge!

#asks #maleeha #2.2k writing challenge!

[jimothystu]

Pass the happy! When you receive this list 5 things that make you happy and send this to 10 of the last people in your notifications. 💛

Aw thanks Maleeha! <3

Painting

Stuffed animals

Writing

Sports (some days lmao)

My friends!

#asks #jennifer talks about herself

[scentedpaintertrash]

The Twitter account of an unofficial Pakistani defence blog is suspended after it doctored an image of an Indian student to portray her as someone who hated her country. Indian media swiftly hailed it as a "victory" against Pakistani propaganda, but the student, Kawalpreet Kaur, says she is uncomfortable with this narrative.The original tweet from Ms Kaur in June, featured her standing outside the 16 Century Jama Masjid in the capital Delhi, holding a placard that read: "I am a citizen of India and I stand with the secular values of our Constitution. I will write against communal mob lynching of Muslims in our country. #CitizensAgainstMobLynching."Ms Kaur told the BBC that she had taken the picture in June as part of nationwide protests titled "not in my name" against rising attacks on Muslims and Dalits (formerly untouchables) by vigilante groups seeking to protect cows, which are sacred to Hindus.The doctored image by Pakistan Defence saw the text on her sign changed to: "I am an Indian but I hate India, because India is a colonial entity that has occupied nations such as Nagas, Kashmiris, Manipuris, Hyderabad, Junagadh, Sikkim, Mizoram, Goa."The accompanying tweet read: "Indians are finally realising the truth; their country is actually a colonialist entity."Pakistan Defence, which describes itself as a "one stop resource for Pakistan defence, strategic affairs, security issues, world defence and military affairs" is not officially affiliated to the Pakistan government.However it is followed by many members of the military and Pakistani commentators and analysts believe it follows the agenda of the establishment. It is known for propagating extreme right-wing content, and has routinely targeted journalists and liberal voices in the country.It did not respond to requests by the BBC for comment.Even though its Twitter account has been suspended, Pakistan Defence is far from silenced. Its website is still active, as is its Facebook page, which has more than 8 million followers.And although Pakistan Defence is not an official blog of the government, many were quick to draw comparisons to an embarrassing instance in September when Pakistan's permanent representative to the United Nations, Maleeha Lodhi, held up a photograph as proof of "Indian brutality" in Kashmir.The image was really of a 17-year-old Palestinian girl, taken in Gaza in 2014 by award-winning photographer Heidi Levine.Ms Kaur said she was alerted to the doctored image of her by a friend some hours after it had been tweeted out by Pakistan Defence."I saw that the handle was a verified account so I tweeted at them asking them to remove the tweet and apologise so that we could end the matter there. But they responded by retweeting my reply with the message that it was to alert Indians to what they have done with Kashmir, which was just absurd," she told the BBC.Ms Kaur then appealed to people to report the account to Twitter, a call which was taken up in both India and Pakistan. Many Pakistanis, she added, had defended her even before she saw the doctored image.The account was suspended on Saturday, creating headlines in Indian media outlets, many of whom mistakenly thought the account belonged to Pakistan's defence ministry.Ms Kaur said she was relieved by the action, but had suddenly found herself the unwilling poster child for India's "triumph" against Pakistan. She made several appeals to people to not "make this an India-Pakistan war" and "sensationalise" the issue."The last thing I want is to be used as a pawn for spreading anti-India and anti-Pakistan sentiments," she wrote in a Facebook post shortly after.What was more galling, she told the BBC, was the fact that the same picture had been doctored earlier by Indian right-wing groups."I made a complaint to the cyber security cell but no one even bothered to respond. What does this say then? That it's only not alright for me to be targeted by Pakistani right-wing accounts, but when it happens in India it's ok?"She said that the coverage of the issue also ignored the fact that liberal voices in India were routinely targeted by government-affiliated right-wing organisations too."So many people are trolled and even death threats are issued against them. So much so, that many people choose to self-censor rather than criticise the government."I would like some accountability from my own country as well.". by breaking news today

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