#quinn hughes one shot

[sweetestdesire]

DRUNK ON LOVE

WARNINGS: absolutely none. Just some pure, sweet content.

PAIRING(S): Quinn Hughes x Fem!Reader

SUMMARY: in which Fem!Reader takes care of a drunk Quinn Hughes.

Quinn was beyond drunk. It was a rare occasion, as he rarely drank never mind to the extent of it actually having any effects. He thought the hangovers were bothersome and it wasn't exactly recommended as a pro-athlete. But the team, specifically Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser, had roped him into a few celebratory drinks after their win before Quinn had text Y/N a few hours later to pick him up early with a, “wanna come home now, I’m sleepy.”

Y/N knew Quinn had had enough when she watched him almost trip over his own two feet on his way back from the bathroom with a little "ow,” after denying just that before his looming stature was shuffling down the hallway and his head whipped up to blink at her with drowsy, lidded eyes in the hopes she didn't see. But she did, and just when his lips parted to grumble about it, she laughed. Her laugh was so warm and so pretty, and something that sounded so much like home, that it made him consider trying to actually fall just so he could hear it again.

Quinn made it three steps into the living room before there was a puffy cheeked pout on his face and his eyes were on Y/N as he mumbled out a, "Hey, quit laughing at me." His cheeks were painted red and his hair was messier than usual, but she’s always thought he looked pretty in the glow from the kitchen. He softened as he sighed sleepily and because she loved him, she caught herself sighing too, a content sort of sound.

“Hi, baby.” Quinn greeted, and Y/N could feel her heart melt. He was drunk, yeah, but the buzz was doing nothing to disguise the hearts in his eyes when he looked at her, his gaze glassy and half lidded.

Y/N reached out, brushing the hair off his forehead and he leaned into her touch, his eyes falling closed. “Hi.” She leaned over to press a gentle kiss to his forehead. “Did you have fun?”

Quinn followed her hand back down, letting his head fall against her shoulder, nodding against her skin.

“You’re home early, was everything alright? I thought you’d be out until at least midnight.” Y/N was running her hands through his hair slowly, pressing against his scalp as she combed through his hair, enjoying the feeling of him melting into her. He mumbled something into her skin, nuzzling himself into the crook of her neck. “What was that?”

Quinn lifted his head to look at her. “Said I’ve missed you. Left early.”

Y/N would love to respond to that, really, but it seemed as though she lost the ability to form words; he was drunk out of his mind, and was having a very, very rare night out with teammates, and he left early to come lay in bed with her just because he loved her. It was sappy and ridiculous, and she’s never loved anyone so much and probably never will again.

It was impossible to find an adequate response. Y/N leaned in, pressing kisses to his cheek, the tip of his nose, the corner of his mouth, and finally, his lips. She cupped the back of his neck, pressing him close before she rested her foreheads together, soaking in the fact that she was the lucky person that got the sole adoration of the kindest, sweetest, most loving person on the planet before pulling away, sliding her hand down to his chest.

"Are you sleepy, Quinny?" Y/N giggled, a little amused before she narrowed her eyes as he fiddled around with him phone in his hand, rotating the screen clumsily, but the sound of her voice brought his sleepy gaze back to her. He rocked forward with a few slow blinks and another cute pout before he stumbled towards her again, and he really looked like he was in love.

“May have overdone it.” Quinn grumbled from his spot on the floor, holding on for dear life as she was sure the room was spinning for him.

“You think?” Y/N teased, immediately feeling a pang of guilt when she was met with a pathetically needy face from him in return. “Oh, baby, it’s okay.”

"Don’t be mean to me." Quinn drawled, low and a little slurred the alcohol making his usual lazy tone of voice a little whinier before he slumped down between her legs to flop on top of her instead of returning to his previous seat next to her with a grumble.

He looked small like this, no longer her giant protector, but like a younger version of himself who just needed someone to take care of him. Y/N was happy to be that person, as he always was for her. It was a rare occurrence to ever see him like this. He always managed to know his limits, but tonight he just went off the deep end.

Quinn’s arms wrapped around her waist and she noticed the slight fogginess that still laid over his lidded gaze when he blinked up at her from her stomach. Y/N giggled again, shuffling under him and scrunching her nose at his sudden weight.

“Quinn, move over.” She grumbled and he only allowed his bottom lip to jut out into a makeshift pout as his arms around her tighten.

"Don’t want to, it’s comfier here." Quinn huffed, eyes dropping and he knew he was probably going to complain about the ache in his neck tomorrow given the awkward positioning, but right now, he nuzzled into her anyway.

"You’re squishing me.” Y/N added, voice lilting to a tease and he sighed, only moving slightly to guide one of her hands to smooth through his hair before he nuzzled into her.

"Give me some kisses and I’ll get up." Quinn sighed again, but he hummed when her fingers combed through his hair and she knew it was less because he was tired and more because he was home, watching him shoot her one of his more affectionate looks before he placed a softer kind of kiss onto her skin through her clothes.

"Do you wanna get up and go to bed?" Y/N laughed, craning her head to lean forward and place a kiss to his forehead and he yawned before he shook his head and his arms around her seem to squeeze even tighter.

"Nah, don't want to. Just want to stay here a little longer." His words were quiet and she smiled as he leaned forward to place a sloppy kiss to her lips before he rested his chin on her chest. "Pretty thing." Quinn mumbled a beat later, blinking up at her while his words still slightly slurred and she couldn’t help the snort that left her lips when the sudden tender confession left his pouty lips.

“How much did the guys make you drink?" Y/N replied, slightly teasing but she continued to scratch her nails through his messy hair anyway, just to watch him lean into her touch like he always did.

"Don’t ask." Quinn sighed, turning to place a tender kiss to her wrist before his eyes closed again, his voice smoother when it sounded once more like he was steadying himself.

Quinn groaned at the realization of what was coming when he wakes up tomorrow, but he hiccuped before breathing deep and softening. Y/N leaned in and pressed a quick kiss to the tip of his nose and she giggled at the way his eyes closed, feeling his fingers squeeze at the dip of her waist when she pulled away.

"No fair, I wasn't done yet." Quinn breathed, and by the tone of his voice she could tell clarity was slowly getting a grip on him again.

Y/N shook her head, amused and leaned in again when he met her half way with a pout, because Quinn taught her that happiness was just as simple as this. Him nuzzling into her stomach between slurred words and stolen kisses as her fingers smoothed through his hair. He was drunk, but he loved her everyday, just the same as always.

“You’re so pretty.” Quinn slurred, the messy pile of hair brushing across her stomach.

“I think you’ve had enough to drink tonight.” Y/N teased gently. “You’re talking nonsense now.”

“Not nonsense.” Quinn mumbled argumentatively, a soft pout to his lips. “Prettiest girl I’ve ever laid eyes on. Give me a kiss.” He said, and Y/N rolled her eyes once more, giggling as she cupped his cheeks and peppered kisses across his face, pressing one final one over his lips.

A small, barely-there grin erupted on his face as he leaned into her hands, and she brushed a thumb over his warm cheek. “There. Those enough for you?"

"Yeah.” Quinn happily nodded, head drooping forward as his eyes started to close, and this was exactly what she’d been trying to avoid.

Quinn had always done that. He fell asleep on the couch, slumped on the floor against the kitchen counter, in the passenger seat of her car, anywhere but their bed. Y/N can never managed to get him there in time, and a hungover Quinn with a sore back was never a fun Quinn to deal with.

"No.” Y/N warned, tapping his cheek to wake him. "Quinn, do not fall asleep.” She said sternly, and he huffed, lifting his head up with a scowl, rubbing the sleep from his eyes as she unbuttoned his shirt.

“I’m tired, baby.” Quinn grumbled. “And why're you trying to see me naked?"

Y/N stared at him with pursed lips as he looked up at her with a raised brow. "I’m not. Now, lift your arms.”

"You think I’m hot? Like what you see?” Quinn grinned, reaching up to poke her cheek. He missed and his body swayed forward as he lost his balance, making her grab him with a sigh. "Hey, keep your hands to yourself.” He snickered, and she almost thought she should let him fall forward to the floor, face first. But that would make him even more insufferable in the morning, and Y/N liked the idea of keeping the remaining bits of her sanity intact. Not that there was a lot of sanity left to keep when she was dating someone like Quinn.

"You are too much.” Y/N snorted, but still, there was fondess as she swept back sweaty locks from his face, tracing over the slants of his features slowly as he closed his eyes and relished in her touch. She didn’t get to take care of him like this often, so she was grateful he was a lightweight, even if he denied that fact to his grave.

"You don’t think I’m hot? Come on, I know you do just a little.” Quinn insisted, letting her finally peel his button down off his upper body.

Chuckling, Y/N threw his shirt across the room as she murmured, "Maybe I do think you're hot, but only just a little."

"Well, I think you're pretty fucking gorgeous.” Quinn poked her hip, sending her a sly grin as she swatted his wandering hand away with a warning glance. "Best I ever had."

"Oh, yeah? Who else you got to make the comparison?"

"No one. Everyone else sucks, so you're best by default.” He shrugged. Her heart melted a little, and she supposed this is what dating someone like Quinn did to her. Taking things he meant as an insult to others as a compliment for herself, but it warmed her up that he saw her as different, as good.

"You’re the best I ever had, too.” Y/N grinned. “How are you feeling?” She asked softly, scanning his face for discomfort or distress.

“I’m okay.” Quinn hiccuped back. “Just want to cuddle.” He always became exceptionally affectionate when he got this drunk.

His eyes fluttered open and closed without rhythm as he looked at her, his eyes glazed over with a glassy shine, and his mouth hung open slightly, like he didn’t have the coordination to close it. His pink cheeks were flushed and his skin had a sweaty sheen. His head had rolled off to one side and rested on his shoulder, like his neck had given up on holding his head up, and his arms fell heavy at his sides.

Y/N should have been at least slightly annoyed with him for acting like a college kid, drinking until he made himself sick. It should’ve gotten under her skin and caused a bit of anger to bubble up into her chest, but it didn’t. She was just taking care of her man. “Do you feel nauseous at all?”

“I promise I’m okay, baby.” Quinn said, making himself giggle. His lips lazily curled up into a smile and he dragged a lazy arm up to give the “okay” symbol with his uncoordinated fingers, before the heavy limb dropped back down to the couch beneath him.

They were quiet for a bit, Quinn fluttering his eyes closed as he hummed contently, and Y/N just admiring him in silence. She let her hand crawl into his, interlocking their fingers together before bringing it up to her lips and pressing small kisses to each of his knuckles. Her fingers ran through his still damp hair, initially just to push them up and away from his forehead and eyes, but continued when she heard the little happy mewls coming from him.

“You always take such good care of me.” Quinn said sloppily with a gentle tone, breaking through the bubble of silence they had created together.

“I always will.” Y/N pressed a gentle kiss to his salty forehead and settled back onto the cushions.

“I love you.” He gave her a gentle squeeze as he cheekily grinned.

“I love you, too.” She felt his smile against her skin, and it made her smile, too.

They hadn’t been together for long, with saying the “L” word still being pretty new, and still slightly foreign to both of them. But she meant it when she said it. She loved him, and her body always filled with a blushing warmth when he said he loved her, too.

“Will you marry me?” The question left his lips in his absurdly difficult to understand drawl and it took her a moment to process what he said, but when she did her heart stopped.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to marry him, because she did, but not now. It was too soon. There was still too much for them to do together, too much still to learn about him, and too much for him to learn about her.

“I will someday.” Y/N spoke gently, trying hard not to hurt his currently fragile feelings. She was now holding his face tenderly, like if she held him steady and close, she could lessen the blow.

“So, no?” Quinn looked up at her with his big puppy dog eyes, feeling guilt punch her in the gut.

“For now. Everything is just going so well right now, we don’t have to mess with it.”

“Just want to be with you forever.” He said softly and her heart began to melt. Quinn was such a soft person, who felt everything so deeply and with so much emotion. He was a sap, and she absolutely loved him for it. She pulled him closer to her chest, pressing soft kisses to his temple.

“And you will be.” Y/N breathed. “Forever will still be there down the line.”

“Why not now?” His lips held an adorable pout and she couldn’t stop herself from pressing a kiss to them. He tasted awful, like vodka and sweat, but the kiss was loving and sweet as she tried to pour all her love for him into it.

“Because we still have to grow.” Y/N watched the end of his mouth tick up, sure to make some sort of smartass comment about them both being grown already. “We have to grow together.” She finished.

“Yeah, I guess so.” Quinn mused softly.

“I promise that I will say ‘yes’ when we are ready someday.”

“Someday.” He repeated softly, feeling the words on his own lips. “I’m going to keep asking, you know?” He smirked up at her, his smile and joking tone signalling that she hadn’t broken his heart, just bruised his ego a bit.

“That’s perfectly okay.” Y/N sighed, a contagious smile finding its way to her own lips. “I’m going to keep saying ‘no’ until we’re ready, you know?” She teased, using his own words against him.

“One day, baby.” Y/N was pretty sure Quinn was asleep, as he was yawning the whole way through his response, and had promptly flipped over and snuggled into her with his eyes closed, but then she felt his lips press lightly against her neck. “Love you.”

She pressed a matching kiss to his temple, rubbing her thumb against his shoulder. “I love you more.”

#quinn hughes x you #quinn hughes oneshot #quinn hughes fic #quinn hughes fluff #quinn hughes fanfiction #quinn hughes x reader #quinn hughes blurb #quinn hughes imagine #quinn hughes #quinn hughes x female reader #quinn hughes x fem!reader #quinn hughes x y/n #quinn hughes one shot #vancouver canucks

[theemporium]

[1.8k] when both hughes brothers think the pretty girl at the bar is way too out of quinn's league, not realising she is very much his girlfriend they were about to meet.

not totally convinced i like this but it's the first quinn piece so who knows

.

“There’s no fucking way, dude.” 

“Mhm.” 

“She’s out of your league, just drop it.” 

“I don’t know, I think I could pull it off.” 

Jack raised his brows at his older brother, examining his face like he was trying to work out if he was being serious or not. However, when Quinn showed no signs of joking around—not even a hint of a smile—the boy was inclined to snort and shake his head. Luke, sitting on the other side of his oldest brother, could only join in. 

“I love you, but you’re fucking delusional,” Luke told him before his eyes glanced back over to where you were sat at the bar. “Not to be funny, dude, but she looks like she’d walk all over you.” 

Quinn just lifted his bottle of beer to his lips, trying to hide the grin that was threatening to break out. 

With the chaos of the hockey season and the summer months spent at the lake house, it was rare for his brothers to find a chance to come up to Vancouver. They flew up just as often as he came down to Jersey, which wasn’t enough by any of their likings but it was the unfortunate way things worked.

Unless they were playing a game—like they were in a few days. 

With no games or pre-planned duties beforehand, it was easy for Jack and Luke to come up a little earlier than the rest of the team to spend a few days with Quinn. And he was glad to have them up in Vancouver. 

Sometimes, it was hard not to feel a little isolated during the season when both his brothers played for the same team and he was left by himself. He wouldn’t change playing for the Canucks, and he adored his team. But he also adored his brothers and maybe, just sometimes, he missed having them be the biggest pain in his ass. Only every once in a while though, not that he would ever admit that to their faces. 

But the distance between them and the chaos of the hockey season meant that sometimes it was hard to keep up to date with each other’s lives beyond the messages and odd phone calls they could slip in here or there. 

And, to his brothers’ defence, he probably should have told them about you before they arrived in Vancouver.

But the thing between you and Quinn started as a small experiment, no real labels and just a lot of fucking chemistry that both of you were willing to explore during the pre-season training. It didn’t seem like a big deal, or something worth telling his brothers about. 

Yet, the weeks went on and the relationship between you two grew stronger and, yeah, it took him a little bit longer than he cared to admit to grow the balls to ask you out. But he got to call you his now so he wasn’t all that bothered with the details.

But you being his girlfriend should have been a detail he shared with his brothers, along with the fact the night out to grab a drink at the local bar near his apartment wasn’t just a random decision but an opportunity to introduce you to them. 

And that really was the plan. 

However the second they walked into the bar, Jack and Luke had nabbed a table and didn’t give Quinn a chance to explain himself as they waited for his ‘friend’ to show up (not that Quinn used that word, once again, his brothers were just idiots who made assumptions). And Quinn was left staring helplessly at where you sat at the bar, sipping your drink as you probably waited for them to arrive. 

And just when Quinn was about to open his mouth again, his brothers picked up on his staring at the pretty girl by the bar and did what brothers do best—rip the absolute shit out of Quinn for thinking he even had a chance. 

And Quinn did what oldest brothers do best—he let them continue to embarrass themselves before he proved them both wrong after he had his fun with the situation. 

“Let’s make a bet,” Quinn said casually, knowing full well he was about to exploit the competitiveness that ran through all three of them.

Jack’s eyes glimmered in interest. “Go on.”

“I get her number and you both have to give me a hundred bucks,” he said as he glanced between his two brothers.

Luke’s brows furrowed together. “And if she rejects you?”

“I’ll give you both two hundred each,” Quinn stated. “And you get bragging rights that you were correct.”

“Deal,” Jack said without even thinking twice.

“Wait, wait,” Luke quickly spoke up, giving the boy an exasperated look before turning back to Quinn. “You can’t tell her anything about the bet though, that’s cheating.”

Quinn raised his brows. “You don’t think I’m a good sport?”

Luke just shrugged. “Just covering all our bases.”

“Now, go on and embarrass yourself!” Jack grinned as he slapped his older brother on the back in a faux comforting gesture. “We will totally not be recording you from way back here.”

Quinn rolled his eyes. “You’re on.” 

The oldest Hughes said nothing more as he chugged the last dregs of his beer before stepping away from the table. His lips were pressed together to try and repress his grin as he walked away from his brothers and towards your spot at the bar. 

Something in his chest eased a little as he closed the distance between you, his fingers itching to just reach out and hold you close after barely seeing you over the last two days since his brothers arrived. The messages were not enough, not when he was selfish and spoiled having you around him almost every day since the spark between you two started.

“Hello, gorgeous.” 

Your head snapped around at the familiar voice, and instantly a smile broke out on your face when you saw your boyfriend sliding into the spot beside you. 

His fingers skimmed along the small of your back, the touch small and subtle before his warm palm was pressed against you. It was a comfort you grew to enjoy around Quinn, the fact he always needed to be touching you in some way, shape or form—even if he didn’t realise he was doing. Whether it was his knuckles skimming down your arm, or a hand resting on your ankle when you threw your feet on his lap during movie night, Quinn Hughes always liked the comfort of knowing you were there with him.

And after two days of not seeing you, the palm on the small of your back was almost like a reassurance you were actually sitting next to him and you were not running off again any time soon.

“Hey, baby,” you grinned as you turned on your stool, spreading your legs slightly so the boy could easily stand between them. “Where’s your brothers?”

“They grabbed a table by the back,” he said, his fingers fiddling with the hem of your shirt as it rode up slightly, exposing a small slit of skin along your back just above the waistband of your jeans. “You excited to meet them?”

“So excited I almost threw up on the way here,” you told him with a sheepish smile.

“They’re gonna love you,” Quinn reassured you. 

“Aren’t you meant to be better at giving pep talks?” You murmured as your hand itched to reach for his, to intertwine your fingers and hold onto him.

“Nah, that’s the captain’s job,” he murmured with a small grin before he nodded vaguely towards the table his brothers were at. “C’mon, gorgeous, you know I’m not gonna let anything happen to you.”

“My knight in shining armour,” you deadpanned before straightening your spine. “Okay, let’s do this.”

“You ready?” He asked, his brows raised slightly.

“Absolutely not,” you breathed out with a shaky smile. “But that’s what the two margaritas I had before you got here were for.”

Quinn’s lips twitched upwards as he lifted his hand from your back, raising it to gently hold your face in both his palms instead. “It’ll be fine, baby, I promise.”

You leaned in before you overthought it, enjoying the first kiss you were able to get from him after over forty-eight hours of nothing. You sunk into his embrace, your fingers looped into the belt hoops of his jeans as you tugged him closer, a needy noise sounding from the back of your throat that had him smiling against your lips.

“Easy, tiger,” he murmured, his nose playfully nudging yours. 

“It was for confidence,” you said shamelessly as you pulled back, an innocent expression on his face.

Quinn huffed out a laugh. “Sure.”

The defenceman let you intertwine your hands together before he began to lead you through the bustling crowd at the bar, his hand squeezing yours to reassure you were behind him. But, his attention was momentarily drawn away from you as he noticed his brothers’ table a few feet away—and more importantly, the absolutely gobsmacked and baffled expressions both his younger brothers were wearing. 

Their jaws were hitting the table by the time Quinn stood on the other side, pulling you forward until his arm was wound around your waist to hold you close to his side.

“Guys, meet my girlfriend.”

Luke blinked, his face absolutely blank.

However, Jack’s reaction was a lot more animated.

“Girlfriend?!” Jack spluttered out before shaking his head, a noise mixed between a scoff and a laugh leaving his lips as he pointed between the two of you. “This is cheating! You were in cahoots!”

Your brows furrowed together in confusion. “Cahoots?”

“Cahoots!” Jack repeated passionately.

Quinn only shrugged, glancing at you before he glanced back towards his brothers. “Say what you want but I’m pretty sure I won the bet.” 

“The bet?” You questioned.

“They didn’t think you were in my league,” Quinn mused, a glint of mischief in his eyes that told you more than enough. It took mere seconds to put together what the boy had just pulled off, and you could only snort in response.

“You’re evil,” you murmured with a shake of your head.

“I agree with your girlfriend!” Jack huffed out as he crossed his arms over his chest. 

Quinn rolled his eyes. “Stop being dramatic, Rowdy.”

“You’re a cheat!” Jack shot back.

“Luke doesn’t seem to think so,” Quinn retorted, and all eyes turned to the youngest Hughes who looked up from his phone, a blush painted across his cheeks.

“Oh no, I think you’re a dirty cheat,” he said, his lips pressed together. “I was just messaging the family group chat so we don’t have to pay.”

Quinn’s eyes narrowed. “Dick.”

“Be nice,” you playfully scolded with a shake of your head. “You were the one that tricked them.”

“Their fault for being stupid enough to fall for it,” Quinn shrugged.

“You never told us you had a girlfriend!”

“All I’m hearing is excuses.”

“That’s it, I’m calling mom.”

.

#quinn hughes #nhl #vancouver canucks #quinn hughes x reader #quinn hughes x you #quinn hughes x y/n #quinn hughes fic #quinn hughes one shot #nhl x reader #nhl x you #nhl x y/n #nhl fic #nhl one shot

[scudevils]

BEARD BURN WITH QUINN HUGHES PLEASE

trouble — QH43

pairing: quinn hughes x fem!reader

warnings: smut, oral (f & m receiving), roadhead, no actual sex, praise, degradation, swearing, mention of a safe word, use of the word brat like once or twice, canucks losing (sorry quinny), reader is a bit annoying for a scene, a bit of sad quinn for like 2 mins, not proofread!!

synopsis: quinn losing a bet results in you getting to enjoy his beard for just a wee bit longer [4.2k]

a/n: hugeeee thank you to my hockey cunt @thegrantic for basically giving me the whole idea for this!! i waffled BIG TIME on this so a lot of it is filler, feel free to skip to the smut if that’s what your here for (i wont judge you)

you watched him from the comfort of your bed, eyes still sleepy and the morning sun being far too bright for your liking. he's fresh out the shower, steam rolling out of the en suite into the bedroom, windows coated in condensation which only seemed to intensify the suns rays.

morning had never, and you vowed would never, be your thing. but being with quinn meant early mornings, wether it was a run or a workout, he practically begged you to join him. and when he gave you those eyes who were you to reject him?

you weren't sure if it was his hectic schedule, or perhaps just because he liked the look, but he'd been beginning to grow his beard out more than before. you were used to a little stubble sure, but it was usually gone the day after you'd mention it, and you were so fucking happy he'd decided to grow it out.

it was becoming a daily test for you to not jump on him on him the longer he kept it, like a predator with their prey you just wanted to devour him.

from the steamed up windows you could see that he was rubbing the shaving cream on his face, finding the time to brush his teeth when you'd been off daydreaming, but it was the white froth on his face that caught your attention.

it takes practically all of your willpower to even get out of the bed, before 10am it was blasphemous for you, a sin you'd be repenting for the rest of your life, and you'd been brining quinn down with you for forcing you up so early. "what are you doing?" he jumps slightly at the sound of your voice, half expecting you to already be back to sleep that you'd basically snuck up on him.

“uh, shaving." he answers the obvious, motioning to the cream that still coated his cheek, ready to be cut away from the fresh blade he'd put on his razor.

you stop his hand before it can reach the razor, taking it in your own. "q, you can't shave."

quinn quirks an eyebrow at your words, a small laugh bubbling from his chests as the look on your face is so serious, like in your mind this is no laughing matter. "and why can't i shave?"

"cause you look hot with a beard?" you said, mimicking his earlier tone, the reason so painfully obvious to you although it hadn't even crossed your boyfriends mind when he'd started growing it out.

he can't help but laugh this time, the smallest of smug smiles threatening to pull at his lips and you could see the sides of them curving up. "you think so?" you nod your head at his words, like it was the clearest thing to ever understand, and you couldn't quite get why he didn't know that. "too bad, it's fucking itchy."

“quinn," you drag out his name in a whine, like a spoiled child who wasn't getting a toy they'd asked for, hoping it would change his mind, instead he only answered with a shake of his head before squeezing your hand and slipping his own from it, reaching for the razor. "why don't we make a bet."

this seemed to pique his interest, stopping his hand on the way to his face before he turned to look at you, the conversation finally not being had through looks in the mirror. "what kinda bet you thinkin'?" he entertained your request, wanting to see what you'd came up with in that short amount of time.

"well, you guys play tomorrow right?" you asked him, already knowing the answer was yes, and when quinn nodded apprehensively, you continued. "you lose, you keep the beard for another week. you win, you get to shave."

“or i could just shave now?" he propositioned, ignoring the conditions you'd already set.

"you do that and i cut you off."

"you wouldn't." he was quick to reply, what he assumed was an empty threat still not enough to convince him to keep the beard.

a smug smile made its way onto your face, you stepped an inch closer to him, running the tips of your fingers over his exposed chest, small droplets of water still clinging to the taut skin. "i have a hand hughes, i'll be just fine." you dragged out the last two words, emphasising your point to him.

"fine."

~

as usual, you were sat with the other wives and girlfiends, the printed "HUGHES 43" proudly displayed across your back, watching as the clock ticked away, too slowly for your liking, feeling like time was slowing down as they were down just one goal, every action felt like it'd been edited slower, dragging out the losing feeling.

you knew it'd be a tough game, at home and against vegas, it was just a recipe for a headache. they'd been as good as they could've been, quinn getting an early goal in the first period before vegas responded only two minutes later. a similar story in the second period, and now in the third with only a minute left they were lagging behind 3-2, hoping they could get a goal to drag it to overtime and at least salvage a point but luck was not on their side.

the familiar horn went off, signalling the end of the game, the loss of the home team, and the players skated off of the ice, and you could see quinn muttering to himself and kicking up snow as he made his way over to the tunnel, no doubt blaming himself for the loss.

it was wrong, you knew it you really did, that deep down a small part of you was happy they'd lost, after all it meant you'd won your and quinn's bet, but you pushed the part of you that wanted to gloat down, standing in the crowded hallway with the rest of the girls, waiting to greet their own significant others after the loss.

just your luck, quinn was always one of the last out, no doubt taking time to apologise to the guys for the (rare) mistakes he'd made in the game, and you were practically alone when he'd finally gotten himself showered and ready again, save for the security guard you'd found yourself in conversation with.

quinn glanced your way, bag strap draped over one of his shoulders, your eyes trail over his flushed face. he was still sweating, the shower doing nothing to tame the adrenaline rush, and the redness was just barely starting to fade from his cheeks down to his neck. "you ready?" he mumbled, a clear sign he wasn't in the mood for talking and you nodded your head, a quick smile and goodbye to the man who'd kept you company and you were leaving.

"you really did play well, q." from the outside perspective, your words were sweet, but quinn knew you well enough from the years of dating that you were bursting to rub it in that you'd won the bet, but you held back for his sake.

the drive home was practically silent, a stark contrast to how it usually was, even when they lost quinn had at least things to say to you, when he'd go a ramble about how good one of the guys had played or how he wished he'd done a play differently and you'd usually just nod your head and listen, it was all he needed, just a person to listen to him.

which was why it was so difficult to keep your words to yourself, you hated seeing him quiet, quinn was never quiet. you swore he could talk for both of you and still have things to say, so the silence was something different, something you definitely did not like.

you were nearly home, ten minutes left if the roads were clear, not that you were counting, but your eyes kept flickering to the radio display, the time clear in blue led's, as was the "radio off" sticking out to you.

so you decided to test your luck, fingers pressing at the one switch before quinn could question what you were doing, the song coming through the speakers one you recognised but not one you could name, and then you went back to looking out of the window, a quick flick of your eyes towards quinn to see his reaction before you did so.

he was quick to turn it back off, silence encapsulating the car once again but only for a few seconds before you pressed it on again, hearing a sigh fall from quinn's lips and you assumed he'd just given up fighting you on it. "have you always been this annoying?"

“since you met me, q." you quipped, a look over your shoulder thrown in his direction before you faced out of the window again, humming to yourself the tune of the song. "why'd you wanna sit in silence so badly?"

quinn didn't answer you, focus entirely on the road but you seen his grip onto the steering wheel just a little bit harder, knuckles turning white and his jaw clenched as the red light reflected against his features. "what, you not talking to me now?" you breathed out a disbelieving laugh, still not bothering to even look at him fully, maybe you were as bad as him. "don't be mad at me just cause you lost twice."

"fuck y/n, when'd you become such a brat?" finally, you turned to look at him, lips parting at his words and you found his eyes already on yours, a frenzied look on this as they grew a shade darker, a fire burning behind them like he was seeking out conflict, wanting a fight, like he was still on the ice.

"don't call me that."

"why, you're actin' like one right now aren't you?" the light turned green, the only way you'd realised was the way it shone against his face, different from the harsh red glow from before, and this time you could see the humour in his eyes, he was enjoying riling you up, and your eyes drifted from his face down to his hands on the steering wheel, tightening around the leather.

"how long till we're home?"

he quirked an eyebrow at your question, but answered anyway, wanting to know what you were planning. "about 5 minutes."

"you think i can get you off in 5 minutes?" you were already reaching across the console, the sweats he'd chose to wear doing nothing to hide the growing bulge beneath them and you heard him suck in a breath as you ran your hands over it, glancing back up to him to see he's tucked his bottom lip between his teeth.

"know you can do it in less." his words gave you a boost of confidence, quinn helping you push down his sweats and he lift his hips enough for you to rid him of them and his boxers.

its definitely an awkward arrangement, but with a little effort you manage to drape yourself across the console without too much discomfort on your part, right elbow resting between his thighs as you use that hand to stroke him lazily, feeling him harden under your hand before you drop your head pressing a teasing kiss to his tip, feeling his shudder under your arm. "y/n-"

you cut him off when you took just the tip in your mouth, one of his hands falling from the steering wheel to your back, dancing along your spine before it found its place in your hair, wrapping itself in the soft strands and tugging at the roots. feeling him twitch in your mouth when you circle the slit, you grin up at him, seeing his eyes flittering down to yours in a way that was definitely not road safe. "fuck, baby, please."

his pleas didn't fall on deaf ears, entertaining them as your lips brushed up the side of his cock, kissing along his length, before taking him further into your mouth. "only because you said please." this time you let his hand guide your head down against him, fingers flexing against your scalp, desperate to keep a grip on you but it was slowly slipping away.

he can hear you spluttering around him, saliva and pre cum escaping your lips and falling against your chest, the open cut shirt you'd worn at least giving him a nice view. another shaky groan rumbled in his chest, a moan threatening to spill from his mouth when your hand squeezed what your mouth couldn't take. "fuck, never gonna forget how good your mouth feels."

you pull off of him for just a second, catching your breath in the process, before you looked up at him. "never gonna have to." the promise was too sweet for the moment, but he couldn't help but appreciate it, he'd never have to forget you because he'll always have you.

entirely too encouraged by his praise and sounds, against his own direction, you push your head down to lightly gag around him, eliciting a moan from him. your own spit starts to hit your chest again, and the squeeze of your hand around him has him bucking his hips into your mouth, tip hitting against the back of your throat almost painfully but the sound of your name from his lips is enough to make up for it.

“i'm so close, so good to me-" you can feel his thighs tensing under your hand, his cock twitching in your mouth a tell tale sign that he was close, and all it took was pushing your head down till he repeatedly hit the back of your throat for him to be releasing down it, your hums vibrating against him only causing him to let out a groan, feeling him still in your throat and finally lift you off of him.

you almost feel a sense of pride when you look up at him, cheeks flushed for a second time tonight although for an entirely different reason, and chest heaving as he tried to catch him breath, matching your own laboured breathing as you did the same.

"told you you could do it in less." you let out a small laugh against his thigh, glancing up to the illuminated clock, just under five minutes since you'd last checked, and you force yourself to move from the position that had now become unbearably uncomfortable.

the turn in the road felt familiar, one you could recognise out of a lineup if you needed to, the one that took you home and you felt butterflies in your stomach, anticipation practically dripping down your thighs as quinn parked the car in your designated spot in the lot, your legs begging you were already at your apartment as they felt they'd buckle under any pressure.

you, however, powered through their protests, thankful you did as the comforting smell of your apartment filled your senses as quinn unlocked the door. the scent a perfect mix of yours and quinn's, the remnants of a once burnt candle nestled in there alongside the perfume you'd put on earlier.

there was something so domestic about the way quinn looked at you, like in a split second he's be down on his knees proposing to you, what was once just an apartment was now a home, your home. "quinn," the whine of his name broke him out of his trance, at some point you'd made your way over to him, just an inch away, needing to be closer. "have no idea how badly i want you, q."

"fuck, know i love it when you talk like that." he was quick to slot his lips over yours, the kiss harsh enough to knock the air from your lungs, filling them with him. his hand tangled in your hair, forcing your neck up with a gasp, allowing him access to the skin, marking you up with rough kisses against your pulse point.

it was magic really, how he was able to render you a whimpering mess with just a few kisses, hand grasping at the grown our strands of hair, longer than he'd had before but fuck did you love it. "quinn, please."

quinn lifted his head from your neck, swollen lips hovering over yours, brushing over them as he spoke. "please, what? what'd you need baby."

"your mouth, please, q." you were too desperate to have any shame, the only thought in your mind was of your own pleasure.

he pressed a searing kiss against your lips, as if telling you to be patient whilst he go to work with you. "only because you said please." he mocked your earlier words, using them against you and you wanted to roll your eyes at the smirk on his lips as he did so. your jeans were quickly discarded, leaving you only in your canucks jersey and panties underneath.

you could feel the warmth from his body when he hooked his hands underneath the waistband of your panties, carefully pulling them down your legs and you stepped out of them, leaving now just in his name-claimed jersey, the cold hitting your legs more than before and you wondered if it was placebo, you felt more exposed and your body reacted as if you were. his eyes seemed to darken more than they had before, a light blush coating his cheeks like it had the first time he'd seen like this.

quinn spread your legs apart when he lifted he pushed you down onto the bed, stepping in between your thighs, pressing kisses against your skin when, squeezing your thighs when he met them and leaving marks leading to where you needed him most. "hm, so lucky aren't i?" your head fell back when you felt his breath hitting your cunt, blowing hot hair on you to see you squirm, before he gently swiped a finger over your slit, your hips involuntarily bucking towards his hand. "all for me, yeah?"

you felt totally out of it, only nodding your head when pressed his thumb against your clit, your brain short-circuiting at the contact, only adding to the sensation when he flattens his tongue against you. he gave you no time react before his mouth found its way to your clit, your hand instantly reaching for his hair when it became tangled in the brown mess he also seemed to be growing out.

the burn of his beard against your sensitive skin only adds to the feeling, mixing insatiably with the pleasure you were feeling from his mouth on you, something you'd never get used to.

your other hand gripped at the clean white bed sheets, thighs tightening around his head like you were scared he'd move, holding him in place so that even if he tried he couldn't. quinn grabbed one of your legs, hooking it over his shoulder to allow himself a better angle, gently grazing his teeth over your clit, the hairs on his face tickling against your inner thigh, nearly having you melting into the bed, though it elicited a loud moan of his name from you.

there was no stopping the noises that came from your mouth, whimpers, whines and moans of his name falling from your lips at his relentless attack on your cunt. "feels so good quinn-" your words only encouraged him, walls clenching around his fingers when he curled two of them inside you, the feeling of that and his tongue circling your clit had you tumbling towards your first orgasm.

your head fell back against the bed, mouth open in a silent moan, wanting to scream but you couldn't find your voice, and eyes screwed shut from the pleasure. when quinn looked up he swore he saw died, went to heaven and seen a fucking angel, branding the sight in his memory for those long roadies.

your release didn't stop his attack, fingers still moving at the same pace they had before and tongue still relentless against your clit. "know you can give me another one." he mumbled against your skin, the vibration sent shockwaves through your body. his lips quicken against you, his fingers moving inside you at a bruising pace that you can feel your second orgasm beginning to form, still so sensitive from the first, your clit twitching under his tongue.

"quinn, please, gonna cum again." your words heeded little warning, your thighs clenching around his head again, pulling him closer to you in angle that had you writhing against the sheets, moving your hips against his face to gain more friction.

on fire was all you could describe the way your body felt, nerves alive, hairs standing that you didn't even know you had. quinn's touch against your skin feeling electric, like he was shocking you each time he came in contact, the warmth of his lips travelling up your stomach, a trail of your slick being left in his path that any other thing would have you embarrassed, but not now. “taking it like a fucking slut, letting me fuck you how i want to, yeah?”

you swore you could drown in the smell of him, one that came so natural it only made you fall for him even harder every time he was this close to you. he drove you insane, nodding your head frantically without even fully registering his words.

the coil in your stomach tightened until it couldn’t any more, snapping and all you saw was white, eyes screwed shut as your body felt like it wasn’t yours anymore, thighs shaking around quinns waist as he moved to press a chaste kiss to your lips, talking you through your release as he continued the movement of his fingers.

the rise and fall of your chest was something quinn would never get sick of, so addictive that he was the one fucking you so good, even with only his tongue and fingers, that you could barely breathe. in fact, it only spurred him on more.

“think you can give me another?”

you whined at his words, shaking your head although he saw the way you clenched around nothing at the thought. “quinn, can’t-“

“you won remember, winners get rewards.”

there’s not much time for you to react when he’s back against your skin, the friction from his beard has you moaning, the sensation something you could definitely get used to. “remember the safe word?”

nodding your head, you let a small smile form on your swollen lips, no matter how past gone you both were he still checked you were okay with everything. “blue.”

“good girl, gonna make you feel so good.” quinn hooks his arm underneath both of your thighs, dragging you to the edge of the bed and he’s on the floor, throwing your legs over his shoulder and pressing a teasing kiss onto your clit, your head lulling against the cushion from the overstimulation.

he’s almost too slow for you with the way his tongue moves against you, savouring the moment at the wrong time when you press his head further against you, hand on the back of your head in a similar way to the way he had when you were in the car. “need more, q.”

a string of curses escapes your lips when he take your clit in his mouth, sucking on it till your practically sobbing, and his hands move from holding you in place to your hands, a small squeeze of your hands enough to comfort you through anything.

“fuck, quinn-“

your hands begin to push against his head, the sensation becoming too overwhelming that it’s almost sore. your overstimulated clit feeling spent from the night. he simply grabs you by the wrists and pins then down by the side of your body, back to keeping you in place. his tongue flicks against your throbbing clit, a scolding for moving away from him, before he’s back to sucking on it.

your voice is hoarse, moans are now broken whimpers and whines, lacking the energy to even speak, third orgasm approaching quicker than the others, hurling towards you, feeling like it’ll run you over. “fuck, can i quinn?”

his beard scratches against your thigh, the skin now a burning red, his pupils blown out as he looks up at you, tongue still attacking your clit. “let go for me, baby, last one.”

quinn worked you through your orgasm, soft kisses being pressed against your skin, a stark contrast to the relentless pulse of his fingers rubbing your clit, until you had to wrap your own wrist against his, forcing him away from you.

he left a trail of kisses up for your body, reaching your lips when he slotted his lips over yours, not wanting anything more than to just kiss you. you let out a whine when he broke the kiss though, needing him close to you, when instead he went into the en suite, returning with a dampened cloth.

you hissed in pain as he dabbed it against your reddened skin, the gentleness of his touch calming down the stinging. “promise me you’ll never shave again?”

quinn laughed at your request, but nonetheless nodded his head, both of you knowing it to be a hollow promise, but already fantasising about when he grows it out again.

#nhl smut #nhl imagine #nhl fic #hockey fluff #hockey imagine #hockey one shot #hockey smut #quinn hughes smut #quinn hughes fluff #quinn hughes imagine #quinn hughes x reader #quinn hughes one shot #quinn hughes fic #scudevils

[jackhues]

mango dragon refresher - quinn hughes

notes: this is part of @wyattjohnston's summer exchange fic, and written for the lovely @lam-ila! i'm horrible at writing angst with happy ending, but i felt inspired to write something like this for quinn!! i really hope you like it <33

warnings: accidents, injuries, angst with happy ending, kinda hurt/comfort

gif not mine!

in hindsight, driving with a broken tail light wasn’t the smartest decision you’ve made.

your mother had taught you years ago that everything you learn when it comes to driving was meant to be applied whenever you were behind the wheel, for the rest of your life. and for years, you’d taken her words to heart, never once stepping out of line.

but you were hungry, and out of milk, and you’d already taken the cereal out into your bowl, and quinn had taken the working car to practice.

you didn’t think it was going to be a big deal, especially since the grocery store was less than five minutes away. besides, you saw people driving with things worse than broken tail lights all the time. how bad could it be?

convincing yourself it was no big deal, you got in your car and headed off to the store. you’d made it there fine, not even a scratch. but on your way back, the car in front of you slammed on their brakes suddenly. you’d stopped as well, just in time to avoid ramming into the rear bumper. 

but with your tail light broken, the car behind you had nearly no warning as he drove into you. you felt it all happen in two times speed: your head hitting the steering, hard, as cars around you honked their horns and manoeuvred away from the crash.

i guess this is why they say mother always knows best, you thought drowsily, the world going dark around you.

-

quinn was feeding his teammates pucks when the assistant coach, nolan, called him over. 

he’d been in a serious conversation with one of the trainers for a few minutes, before he motioned for quinn to come over.

“ooh, hughesy’s in trouble,” some of the guys snickered, messing with him.

quinn rolled his eyes as he held back a laugh, nodding at nolan and the trainer. the trainer nodded back, before rushing away quickly.

quinn didn’t think much of it — the trainers always had lots of work to do.

“what’s going on?” he asked.

nolan motioned over his shoulder, “let’s go talk about it, c’mon.”

now quinn began to worry, almost as if he really was in trouble. during the short walk to his office, a hundred different thoughts flew around quinn’s brain — yet, not one of them explained why he might be in trouble.

i’m a full-grown adult, quinn thought to himself. how the hell am i going to be in trouble? what would i even be in trouble for?

as nolan motioned for him to take a seat, quinn’s thoughts took another direction. he thought of bo horvat, and how he’d been given some terrible news in the very same way.

“wait, am i getting traded?” he asked suddenly.

nolan’s eyes widened, “no, no. we’re not trading you, that’s not why you’re here.”

“then why am i here?” quinn asked. “is there — is it something bad? did i mess up?”

nolan looked resigned, as if the last thing he wanted to do was sit here and tell quinn… whatever it was he wanted to say. but he took a deep breath and forced it out.

“it’s y/n,” he said finally. “your fiancée. she’s been involved in a car accident and has been admitted to the hospital.”

the world seemed to stop for quinn.

y/n, in a car accident. 

he didn’t believe it. you were the safest driver he ever met, there was no way you could be involved in a — the broken tail light, he realized suddenly.

for some reason, you must’ve taken the car and went out to do something, either forgetting about or dismissing the broken tail light.

quinn internally began to curse himself. 

he should’ve woken up half an hour earlier and carpooled with elias when his teammate had asked. that way there’d have been a working car at home, and you wouldn’t have been in the hospital.

“quinn?” nolan asked hesitantly, snapping him out of his spiral. “are you okay?”

“where — which hospital is she in?” he got up. “i want to go see her, i’m leaving to go see her.”

nolan stopped him by placing a hand on his arm, “i’ll drive you. you’re in no state to be operating a vehicle. go get changed, and we’ll head out to see her.”

quinn wanted to argue, to tell him to take him right now, but he saw the determined look in nolan’s eyes. quinn knew him long enough to know there would be no arguing with him. 

he rushed off to the locker room, changing in record time, before meeting nolan in his car.

“let’s go,” nolan said, driving quinn.

the car ride was tense, with quinn stuck between wanting to ask nolan more information, and at the same time not wanting to know anything and just hope for the best. 

his brain compromised by thinking of the worst scenarios imaginable.

“breathe,” nolan said as they arrived at a red light. “she’s gonna be fine, you just need to calm down.”

quinn took a deep breath, resisting the urge to snap at nolan. you wouldn’t want him to get mad at someone who’s only trying to help.

nolan took a right, arriving at the hospital entrance.

“head on up,” nolan told him. “i’ll park and come.”

quinn didn’t need to be told twice, as he bolted out of the car and towards one of the receptionists.

“my fiancée,” he rushed out. “she was — she was just brought in here because of a car accident. y/n, y/n y/ln.”

“one second,” the receptionist said, searching through her files. “you’re her emergency contact. quinn hughes, correct?”

“that’s me,” he nodded.

the receptionist nodded, “she’s in the emergency room, currently being operated on. she needs stitches, and is being checked for a dislocated shoulder.”

quinn’s heart felt like it would stop in his chest.

“where — where is she?” he stuttered.

the receptionist gave him a look of sympathy, pointing him towards the direction of the room. quinn ran down the halls, coming to a halt outside the room.

on the other side of those doors, you were in pain. you might’ve been under anaesthesia, but after everything, quinn didn’t want to think of you being in pain.

doctors, nurses, patients, and even visitors walked around him. for once, no one was asking for an autograph — only giving him looks of sympathy.

-

“mango dragon fruit refresher for quinn!” the staff called out.

quinn walked numbly to the counter, taking the drink, before heading upstairs. in his other hand, he held his own coffee — which is pretty much what he’d been living off for the past day.

there were three or four mango dragon refreshers in your room, melted or in the trash. quinn bought one for you each time he went to get his coffee, just in case you were waiting for him.

the accident itself was quite bad, to the point where the doctors were saying it was lucky that you didn’t sustain any long-term injuries.

from what quinn had been told, you were suffering from a minor concussion, needed six stitches across your forehead, needed twelve stitches on your hand, and had dislocated your left shoulder.

the stitches would come out eventually, and the concussion would be fine within a few weeks. but your shoulder would need to remain in a sling for three to four weeks, and you’d be needing physiotherapy afterwards.

quinn was just waiting for you to wake up.

you’d been out for over twenty-four hours, quinn not leaving your side except to get your drinks. nolan had brought him some food, which was in a bag in the corner of your room. he just wasn’t hungry.

quinn entered your room silently, mango dragon refresher in hand as he tried not to disturb you.

“is that for me?” your voice caused him to startle.

quinn turned towards you, seeing you awake and sitting up in the hospital bed. words failed him as he stared at you, trying to force something — anything coherent — out of his mouth.

“you — you’re — are you—”

“hi,” you gave him a tired smile, patting at your bedside.

quinn was there immediately.

“you’re awake,” he whispered, hesitantly reaching out for you.

“and you look like you haven’t slept in days,” you responded, taking his hand in yours. you leaned into his touch, savouring the feeling of him next to you. “are you sure you’re okay?”

quinn stared at you, shaking his head to himself in disbelief. “you’re the one in the hospital bed, and you’re asking if i’m okay? i should be asking you that!”

“i’m fine,” you answered. “a little battered, but i’m alright. you on the other hand, you look like you’ve been through hell.”

quinn rolled his eyes, but it was true. he felt like it too. sitting by your side, all night, not knowing when you were going to wake up — it drove him crazy.

“i’m just glad you’re okay,” quinn choked up, pressing a kiss to your intertwined hands.

he’d spent the last day thinking of the worst possibilities, torturing himself. seeing you here, smiling and happy, it made him realize that he couldn’t lose you. 

you smiled, leaning forward to place your forehead against his. 

“me too,” you whispered.

#naqia writes! #quinn hughes #quinn hughes blurbs #quinn hughes x reader #quinn hughes one shot #quinn hughes imagines #quinn hughes imagine #quinn hughes blurb #quinn hughes oneshots #quinn hughes oneshot #hughes #canucks #vancouver canucks imagines #vancouver canucks #hockey imagine #hockey fic #canucks hockey #hockey #nhl one shot #nhl imagine #nhl fic #nhl

[bqstqnbruin]

The Party's Over, Go Home

Hello hello here I am with my fic for @wyattjohnston's winter fic exchange!

I had the pleasure of writing for @sc0tters I hope you like it!

Shoutout to @kat-hearts @matthewtkachuk and @raysofcrosby for reading through this and getting mad at me :)

This is inspired by Intrusive Thoughts by Natalie Jane, Deserve by Jake Clark, and the Gilmore Girl's episode from season 5 called The Party's Over

Warnings: swearing, alcohol, family financial issues, this is angst, the spacebar on my computer is starting to break so typos (I tried)

WC: 11k

__________________________________

“We should do something tonight.”

“I was going to go to bed early, actually.”

“You do that every night.”

“What, are you stalking me now?”

“No,” Kendyl draws out. “You stop texting me by like, 8:30 every night. Your phone is on do not disturb half an hour later. Either you’re asleep early, or you’re ignoring everyone by then.”

Ellie narrows her eyes at her coworker. They still weren’t close enough that she felt she could comfortably hang out with the people she worked with outside of the workday. She had only been at her new job for a month, still getting the hang of things, trying to get to know people and figure everything out. Spending time outside her apartment with people who were practically strangers when she could be in her warm bed with her flannel sheets that she loved more than anything on this planet? “I don’t like that you picked up on that.” 

“Well, too bad,” Kendyl says, sitting down on Ellie’s desk. “A bunch of us are going out tonight, so why not?” Ellie hesitates to answer. “If it sucks, you can go home at ten. You’ll be in bed by 10:30, two hours later than normal. And it’s Friday, we don’t have work tomorrow for you to use that as an excuse as to why you have to get up early, and you already told me that the only thing you planned on doing this weekend was laundry and cleaning.”

Ellie let out a long sigh. Maybe Kendyl did know her well enough to be able to call her out on her shit already. “God.”

“I don’t know if you’re religious or not to know if that’s a yes.”

“Fine,” she says, shuddering at Kendyl’s squeal of excitement. “But you’re buying at least one round and I get to leave at 9:30 if I want to.” 

“Deal.” 

Ellie’s day was full of dread, from spending the rest of work distracted about having to go out with seemingly everyone at her job, so the stress involved with getting ready and trying to look like someone who was actually 24, not the ‘1980’s power boss bitch without the hair and shoulder pads’ as Kendyl described her as multiple times, even do walking to the bar that Kendyl had picked that felt way too conveniently down the street from her apartment. 

“I’m surprised you even had someone convince you to go out,” her younger brother, Alex, says on the other end of their phone call. As soon as he saw Ellie leaving her apartment on Find My Friends, he called her panicked that something was wrong. “You never went out in college. I had to beg you to go to that one party the time I visited you.”

“That’s because you were still seventeen and Mom would have killed me if she found out you went.”

“She knew I was going to try anyway.”

“I’m going out because I was promised free drinks and the prospect of going home early if I want to. It’s not like I’m being forced to go out against my will.” 

“I promised you free drinks.” 

“Alexander.”

“Eleanor. Just be safe, ok? Let me know when you get home.”

“You sound like Mom.”

“If I were Mom, I would be yelling at you for not wearing a jacket.”

“How do you know I’m not wearing a jacket?”

“You never wear a jacket. Mom has been yelling at you about that since you were five.” 

Ellie lets out a laugh, a sudden chill coursing through her when she realizes she can see her breath. “How is Mom, have you checked in on her?’

“Yes, Ellie.”

“In person?”

“Yes, Ellie. She’s good. At least, she says she is.” 

The two of them stay on the phone in silence for a moment, knowing what he really means. Ellie and Alex hated the topic of how their mom was doing, but if they didn’t talk about it with each other, who else did they have? Their mom and Alex still live in the same area even if Alex was away at college and living in a dorm rather than with her. Ellie was on the other side of the continent now, for a job that she barely had any friends at, in a city she still barely knew, surrounded by things she wasn’t used to. 

“Hey, I’m outside the bar now, I’ll talk to you later?” she ends the call, taking in one last deep breath before heading into what she was sure was going to be 

“You came!” Kendyl yells once Ellie finally manages to get into the bar. “Here’s the first drink.”

Before Ellie could even tell Kendyl she wasn’t ready yet to start drinking, the drink was pressed to her chest and nearly spilled down the front of her. Despite it being early enough in the night that no one should be drunk by now, Kendyl and the rest of her coworkers seemed to be well on their way with Ellie needing more drinks than she could count to catch up. 

The night goes by slowly, the drinks going away fast, and Ellie sitting in the corner while her coworkers, who are obviously close, talk about a bunch of inside jokes from before she was hired that Ellie was unable to participate in.

“Remember when he ordered the wrong cake?” Wesley slurs, punching Doug in the shoulder.

“I swear she told me to say, ‘Happy Retirement,’” Douglas defends himself.

“It was my 28th birthday, not my retirement?” Hazel says, everyone except Ellie bursting into a fit of laughter.

“What about when Sammy dialed 911 during the meeting?” Kendyl adds through wheezes, the remains of her drink nearly spilling on Ellie’s shirt, again.

“It fell out of my pocket and bounced weird!”

“How does a bouncing phone dial 911?”

“That’s the set up to a bad pick up line.”

“More like the setup to a story that makes no sense,” Ellie mutters, thankful that her coworker's howling laughter was too loud to hear her.

She gets up from the table, draining her drink on her way to the bar. It was only 9:15. She promised Kendyl 15 more minutes. The least she could do was down another drink in that time before pulling her classic Irish exit to go home and get in bed. 

“Rum and coke?” she asks once she gets up to the bar, the sticky wooden counter acting as anything but inviting for her to lean on. 

“Me, too, and put it on my tab,” someone says behind her, Ellie’s face immediately turning sour at the thought of some guy buying her a drink to probably get her to hook up with him.

“My friend is paying for it, actually,” she turns to him, surprised to find a seemingly innocent-looking guy around her age and not the middle-aged gross man she thought he would be. Anything was possible, and looks can be deceiving.

“Which friend, the one who almost spilled her drink on you or the one of the ones who have been ignoring you the entire night and letting you sit in silence while they have a good time around you?”

“I already don’t like you.” 

“My friends pointed you out and said you were me when they drag me out to bars.”

“So you’re the friend who they barely know and who they only invited out of pity?”

“That’s dark. But also, kinda hot,” he says, the pink rushing to his cheeks as he turns away out of embarrassment. “Sorry, um. I’m going to go sit down now.”

“You haven’t gotten your drink yet,” Ellie points out, his sudden bashfulness making Ellie soften for him. “I just moved here. I don’t really know any of them too well.”

“I know what that’s like,” he tells her, leaning against the bar. 

“You’re not from here, either?”

He shakes his head. “Born in Orlando, moved to Boston, then moved to Toronto, and kept going from there.” 

“That sounds unstable,” she says, passing one of the newly appeared glasses of alcohol to the guy in front of her.

He shrugs, lifting the drink to his lips. “Well, they say you are a product of your environment.” 

Ellie lets out a laugh, the first one that she had let out all night. “That’s dark. But also, kinda hot,” she repeats, the pink returning to his cheeks again.

“I’m never gonna live that down, am I?”

“Depends on how long we keep talking.”

“Hopefully it lasts past tonight.”

“It can’t if you don’t tell me your name. I’m Ellie.”

“I’m Quinn.”

Ellie loses count of how many drinks Quinn gets her, how long they’re talking, and when all of her coworkers leave the bar, not even telling her that they were leaving without her. 

She could feel the warmth of the alcohol coursing through her body, the bar getting busier the longer she and Quinn stood there. Someone shoves in between Ellie and whoever is behind her, pushing her into Quinn’s arms without her being able to catch her balance. His hand falls to the small of her back, spreading out to hold her steady. They stood there in silence, the rest of the bar a world away from them. 

“Are you ok?” Quinn whispers in her ear, his breath tickling her skin. 

Ellie stammers for a second, trying to process what just happened. The alcohol was making everything foggy, and the room starting to spin slightly around her as if Quinn was rocking her back and forth. “Um, I, yes?”

His eyes flickered down to her lips, the distance between them closing with each additional person, he was so close to kissing her. 

“I should go home,” Ellie says before he can, knowing that kissing him now would not be a good idea for either of them. 

His grip on her doesn’t relax, the disappointment Ellie expected to show up on his face not there at all. “I’m walking you home,” he tells her, slipping his hand into hers before she can protest. 

“You don’t have to do that.” 

“I want to.” 

The difference in temperature between the bar and outside hit Ellie faster than she could process it, her lack of jacket her brother had scolded her for earlier biting her in the ass harder than the cold was in the moment.

Ellie didn’t even process Quinn taking off his own coat, the one she didn’t even realize he had been wearing the entire time, and putting it around her shoulders before wrapping his arm around her and pulling her close. 

She was on autopilot, unsure how she managed to navigate her way to her apartment when her mind was on Quinn’s body pressed against hers. She just met him. She didn’t know much about him. She didn’t even know what he did for work and only knew that he had two brothers who lived in New Jersey even though that wasn’t one of the places that he mentioned living before. 

“Here,” Ellie barely gets out, surprised with herself for managing to get back to the right place. 

“Do you want me to walk you to your door?” Quinn asks, shoving his hands in his pockets when he finally lets go of her. 

“No, it’s fine.” 

Ellie goes to take off the jacket and give it back to him, the warmth something her drunk self quickly realized she was going to miss. “No, keep it. It looks better on you anyway,” Quinn tells her, pulling his things out of his pockets before turning away to head off.

She stands there for a few seconds, trying to process what had happened that night. 

“Wait, no,” Quinn says, appearing again in front of her. “I can’t leave without getting your number first.” 

“I couldn’t even tell you what my number is right now,” she admits, handing him her phone instead.

Quinn laughs, putting his number in. “I want to see you again, Ellie.”

She smirks at him. “We’ll see, Quinn.” 

___________________

“What do you mean you’re not bringing anyone?”

“No one said I had to bring anyone.” 

“Everyone brings someone. You have to bring a date to the holiday party.”

“Then why was one of the options on the RSVP ‘no’ to the question ‘will a guest be accompanying you?’”

Kendyl whines, earning a cringy look from Ellie. “You have no one you can bring?” 

Ellie rolls her eyes, leaning back in her desk chair. “Let’s see, I’ve been here for like, what, two months? I knew no one when I got here, I hate going out and don’t have anywhere to meet anyone, and somehow none of you here know anyone either. Who would I bring?”

“What about that guy you met at the bar that one time? I see his name popping up on your phone all the time.”

Ellie snatches her phone from her desk and holds it against her chest as Kendyl cranes her neck to see that her statement is actually fact, three messages from Quinn, a fourth appearing while they were talking. “You need to learn what a boundary is.”

“And you need to learn what the Focus feature is on your phone when you’re showing me things because his name always shows up.” 

She couldn’t invite Quinn to the party. She barely knew him, she couldn’t throw him into the party with a bunch of her coworkers who she also barely knew, putting her phone back on the desk without thinking. “He’s probably busy.”

Kendyl rolls her eyes, snatching Ellie’s phone from her desk before she can protest, fiddling with it while Ellie tries to process what could possibly be happening in front of her. “He’s not.”

“What?”

“He’s not busy.” 

“Ken, what did you do?” Kendyl hands Ellie back her phone, a quick conversation with Quinn on her screen, ‘Ellie’ asks him what he was doing the night of the holiday party and he immediately answers that he is free. “Why are you like this?” 

Kendyl shrugs, slowly backing away from Ellie’s desk. “You had fun talking to him at the bar, enough fun that he responded to you within seconds of being asked if he was free.” 

Ellie looks back at her phone as Kendyl finally leaves her alone. The whole idea of having to bring a date seemed archaic in a way that Ellie couldn’t quite put her finger on. Why did she have to bring someone she barely knew to a party with more people she barely knew?

But she really did know Quinn better than she was letting on. She still didn’t know what he did with his life, him weirdly making her promise not to look him up, which made Ellie immediately question if he was a serial killer. He wasn’t, allegedly, but that still didn’t make sense. 

She knew that he was from the States, went to school there until he left early for whatever job he had. He has two younger brothers, and apparently is known amongst his friends for looking like he was having a nonstop existential crisis, while also being nicknamed ‘Huggy Bear.’ She also knew that he was sweet, and listened to her when she went off on a tangent about something, him following right along and matching the energy she had. She knew that she wanted to see him again every night since she had met him that first time, and that he wanted the same thing.

His name came up on her phone, a call from him. “Hi, sorry, it’s easier to talk than text right now.”

“Why are you out of breath?”

“Workout.” Must be nice to have a job where he can just go and work out in the middle of the day, Ellie thinks to herself. “So, the 18th?”

“Yeah,” Ellie lets out, suddenly nervous. It felt like she was asking him for something much more serious than just going with her to an office party. “It’s the holiday party for my company, and apparently everyone needs to bring a date.”

“And you want me to find you one?”

Ellie’s jaw drops at his comment. “No, idiot, I wanted to bring you.” 

“Oh, thank god. I was running through my friends who would go and none of them are good enough for you.”

Ellie could feel the heat rushing to her cheeks at his comment. Did he consider this a date? Was it a date? Was it bad if she considered it a date and he didn’t? What if he didn’t? Why was her mind running at a mile a minute while Quinn was there on the other end of her phone waiting for her to say something else? “So that’s a yes?”

“Of course, it’s a yes. It’s one of the few nights I have off, I want to spend it with you.”

The next days went by in a blur, Ellie freaking out over everything from what she was going to wear, texting and calling Quinn even more, wishing that they could see each other sooner.

“It’s not obsessive, is it?” she asks Kendyl, staring at herself in the mirror. Kendyl insisted on coming over to Ellie’s place to get ready, telling her that her roommate had their partner over that night and the last thing she needed to do was try to use the bathroom to get rid when they had a habit of taking it over for more than a few hours.

“No, El, you just like him. I think it becomes obsessive when you start to stalk him and you show up to where he works unprovoked.” 

“Why do you say that like you’ve either done that or you’ve had that happen to you?”

“I’ll let you decide which one is better. What time is Quinn coming?”

“He’s supposed to get here in ten minutes.” 

“Just breathe, El. You’re going to have fun.” Kendyl left her to finish getting herself ready, her date already waiting outside to take her to the party. They could have all gone together, as pointed out by Kendyl, but it was better to not throw Quinn directly into the fire that was her closest coworker. 

Ellie’s phone starts ringing, not checking but expecting it to be Quinn calling to tell her he was early. She pops out of her seat to head to the door, picking up the phone and answering with an excited “Hi!”

“Eleanor?” 

Ellie stops in her tracks, her mom’s voice coming over her phone speaker. “Mom?”

“Sweetie, can you do me a favor?” 

Ellie felt her heart drop to her stomach, already knowing what her mom was going to ask her. It was the same thing that her mom always asked since she first got a job when she was in high school, every time she answered the phone while she was getting her degree, no matter where Ellie was in her life, it was never a call that a mother should have to make to one of her children this often. “Mom,” she lets out, knowing that she couldn’t say no.

“Please, Eleanor. I need the money. I, I-” 

“Mom, you promised,” Ellie cuts her off, not wanting to hear anymore even though she knew her mom would keep going.

“I thought I would get a raise before they sent the eviction notice this time.”

“Mom,” Ellie says, more exasperated this time. “You have to stop doing this. You do this to me every time.” 

“Alexander can’t help this time.”

Ellie heard a knock at her door, not even processing the fact that she should be looking through the peephole to make sure it wasn’t a murderer, opening it, and letting whoever it was in. Thankfully, it was Quinn, waving him in and motioning to give her a moment.

“Alex is still in college, already struggling because you’re no help. He shouldn’t have to give you anything in the first place.”

Quinn stands there, clearly uneasy at listening to only Ellie’s end of the conversation but following Ellie into her room regardless. He stands in the doorway, leaning against the frame with his arms crossed while he watches Ellie continue to get ready. 

“But you said last time that I couldn’t ask you again.”

“I didn’t mean for you to ask my little brother.”

“Eleanor, please. He’ll have nowhere to come home to. I’ll have nowhere to go home to.”

“What happened to everything you had last time I asked you?”

“It went towards all of the other bills, I promise. I’ll send you every confirmation for every bill I have.” 

“You’re not lying to me this time?”

“I’m not, I swear!”

“How many months did Alex cover?”

“Only half of one month.”

“How many months are you behind?”

“I swear I used everything I had to pay-”

“Mom, how many months are you behind?” Ellie knew she was raising her voice, forgetting that Quinn was even behind her. She stopped putting her makeup on at this point, knowing that the tears that were about to fall were going to ruin what she had already on, anyway. 

“Four.”

“Fuck, Mom.”

“Please?” her mom’s voice comes through, small and on the brink of breaking. “I know I’m still paying you back from last time. But what else am I supposed to do?’

“I’m sending it now,” she tells her, hanging up before her mother could say anything else. Ellie forgot Quinn was standing there in her doorway, putting her phone down on her vanity and putting her face in her hands. This couldn’t be happening again. Not again.

Quinn clears his throat, causing Ellie to jump. “Should I go?” he asks, creeping into her room.

Ellie wipes the tears from her cheeks, cursing herself mentally for now having to redo the makeup she already took too long to do the first time. “Uh,” she stammers, “No, no. I’ll be ready in a second.”

“Ellie,” Quinn kneels on the floor next to her, gently placing his hand on her thigh. “We don’t have to go to this.” 

“No, it’s fine, I’m fine.”

“El.” 

Ellie finally turned to him, the genuine concern on his face causing her to burst into tears. He reached up and pulled her close to him, his one hand on her back, the other holding her head on his shoulder, letting her cry on his white shirt. She hears him let out a quiet shushing noise, trying to comfort her in the way she had needed for so long. She cried for so long that she didn’t know how much time passed. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize,” he whispers when she finally stops crying, not moving from their position. “Do you want to talk about it?”

She never told anyone about the stuff with her mom. Ellie had been holding it in for years, going from friend to friend, place to place, never letting this out with anyone who wasn’t her younger brother, the one person who would understand and who she knew also understood what it was like. 

But there was something about Quinn. She thought she could trust him, for whatever reason. She never told her ex-boyfriends in college or high school, despite the fact that this had been going on since then. 

Ellie takes in a deep breath. “The only people who know this are me, my mom, and my brother, do you understand?” she asks him, watching him nod. “It started, I think, when my dad left. I was probably 10? Alex was 6, maybe?  I don’t even remember, honestly. This probably started before Dad left, Alex and I think it’s why he left. But our mother is absolutely shit when it comes to money. Like, put us in debt every few months that then somehow fell to us as her children to bail her out.” 

“God,” Quinn lets out, Ellie continuing over him.

“I think we realized it was getting bad when she told us we were moving somewhere smaller right before I was starting high school, out of the blue, when we had already moved to ‘somewhere smaller’ three times in four years. Normally she said she had been planning it because we, of course, needed somewhere to live, and she didn’t like where we were, but that was weird. I didn’t realize it was because we had been evicted every single time until I found the seven eviction notices my second year of high school from the last three times and a notice that we were getting evicted that year, too.”

“Ellie, I’m so sorry,” he tells her, pulling her back in for a hug. 

She sighed, knowing that there was nothing more he could say. “At this point it’s normal, it’s just still frustrating when she tells me and Alex that she’s fine and that she has the money for everything, and then out of nowhere, tells us she hasn’t paid the rent for her current place in four months. Like, do you know what it’s like to have your mother owe you nearly a hundred thousand dollars because of how much she keeps needing?”

“I can’t even imagine.” The two of them sit in silence for a moment, neither of them sure what to do next. 

“I’m glad you can’t. It fucking sucks,” she says, turning back to her vanity mirror. “God, I don’t even want to go to this stupid party anymore.” 

“Hey, we don’t have to go if you don’t want to. We can stay here, we can go to my place, we can go somewhere else, we can do anything.”

“We?”

“I don’t want to leave you, Ellie. I came tonight because I wanted to spend time with you,” Quinn tells her, taking her hand in his. “If you’ll let me, I’ll take you wherever you want.” 

“You don’t have to.”

“Ellie, I want to be with you.” 

___________________

“Kendyl, I told you, I’m hanging out with Quinn and the rest of the guys tonight.” 

“Can I please come?”

“Absolutely not.” 

“But you’re dating the captain of the fucking Vancouver Canucks. You have to bring your best friend along with you.” 

“Alexander can’t come tonight either.”

“Ok, rude.”

Ellie was already nervous about meeting Quinn's teammates. It had taken a while for her to wrap her head around that he was not only a hockey player, but a professional one, and the actual captain of the team. Honestly, she didn’t see it coming. She had heard so much about Elias and Brock that she felt like she knew them at this point. She hadn’t even met them. As close as she had gotten to Kendyl in the last six months she spent at her job, and as much time as they spent together outside of work when she wasn’t with Quinn, she didn’t need Kendyl mixed into the group. 

“Let me meet them first, then we can talk about you meeting them, ok?” she tries to assure her, hearing a knock at her door. “I’ve gotta go, Quinn is here.”

She hangs up on Kendyl before she can protest, slightly worried that she would use the ‘Find my friends’ feature to just stalk the house they were going to and end up on the doorstep uninvited. 

“Hi,” she opens the door, stopping for a second to take him in. God, she hated how hard she fell for him in a short amount of time. He was perfect to her at that moment. 

He pulled her in for a kiss, one that made her wish they were staying in rather than heading to spend time with his friends. “Hi,” he whispers, kissing her again before pulling away. “You look amazing, as always.”

“I’m wearing jeans and a sweater,” she counters.

“And?” He could say anything to her with that stupid smile on his face and make her swoon. “Ready?”

They head out to his car, Ellie’s heart racing as they get closer and closer to Thatcher’s house. She wasn’t great with meeting large groups of people all at once, despite being in a new school nearly every year of her awkward teenage years and being forced to interact with new people every time. 

“Hey,” Quinn says, resting his hand on her thigh as he drives down the highway, giving her a gentle squeeze to try to calm her down. “You’re going to like the guys. And they’re going to love you.”

“Yeah?” she says, her voice shaking slightly. 

“How could they not?” he asks, taking her hand and bringing to his lips, his eyes glued to the road in front of them so he couldn’t see her melting at his words and his touch. “You’ll get along great with Elias.”

“He’s the one from Sweden?”

“Yeah,” Quinn tells her, pulling into the driveway of a house so massive Ellie wasn’t sure people could actually live in it. It was certainly bigger than anything she could have ever dreamed of being near, let alone being invited to. “He’s got kind of a dry humor. You’ll like him.”

Ellie takes in a deep breath, feeling incredibly inadequate just getting out of his car and standing on the pavement of a place like Thatcher’s house. Maybe she should have invited Kendyl. 

Quinn takes her hand, pulling her along to the door when everything inside her was telling her to turn around and just run. There was no way she was good enough to be in this house, not with everything in her life, not when Quinn and his teammates had everything they could possibly want at the tips of their fingers. 

He stops at the door, pulling her close to him, dropping her hand, and cupping her face to kiss her again, calming her immediately. “Hi,” he breathes when he pulls away.

“Hi again. What was that for?” she asked, his hands slipping down to her waist, sending a shiver through her entire body as he traced her sides. 

“I’m going to want to do that so many times tonight, but I know the guys will tease us for it. I’ve gotta do what I can now.” 

That shouldn’t have made her feel the way it did. He could say or do anything at this point and she would melt. 

They go inside, the house loud and full of people despite Quinn telling her that it was just supposed to be a ‘small get-together.’ Everything in the house looked expensive, Ellie’s anxiety immediately spiking. She followed Quinn blindly through the house, all of his teammates talking to him and him introducing her to all of them while she stood there nearly mute over the sheer stimulus overload that was all around her. She barely noticed the drinks that found their way in hers and Quinn's hands, drinking once she saw Quinn drinking it, as well. 

“Elias is right over here,” he whispers in her ear, his hand still in hers and giving her a reassuring squeeze as he leads her off into one of the side rooms. The room was quieter, the lights dimmer, and had a lot less people than any of the other rooms. 

“You got here half an hour ago and you’re just making it in here?” one of the guys asks as she and Quinn sit next to each other on the couch. “Ellie, you have to get him to go faster through the greetings next time. I cannot be left alone with Brock for this long.”

She looks at Quinn, confused as to how they already know her name. 

“You know I have to say hi to everyone, I’m captain.”

“As captain, you should be able to do one big greeting and let that be it so you can seclude yourself in a separate room where you don’t have to talk to everyone else,” one of the other guys said.

“Every time you talk, Brock, you add more to the long list of why you would make a horrible captain.”

“I would be a great captain.” 

“Elias, Brock, jeez.” 

“You know you can’t leave us alone for too long.” 

Ellie gets lost in their conversation, not even being able to contribute to what they were saying because their verbal sparring is so fast and so specific to their history with each other, she wouldn’t even know where to begin. Quinn puts his arm around her, pulling her closer to him by her waist. He looks at her while Brock and Elias continue bickering, smiling at her and giving her a soft kiss on her forehead. 

The guys interrupt them, jeering and teasing them to the point where Ellie has her face buried in Quinn’s shoulder, trying to hide from the embarrassment. “So, Ellie, what do you see in El Capitan here?” Brock asks, giving the most obnoxious facial expression possible.

“You do not have to answer that,” Elias tells her. “Brock has no idea how to interact with anyone, just ignore him.”

“That’s not true.” 

“You thought a good pick up line to use on a girl was ‘you dropped something, my jaw,’ the other night and then were shocked when she just turned and walked away,” Elias says, earning a laugh from Ellie and Quinn.

“You have definitely taken a girl out on a date and then talked about yourself the entire time,” Quinn adds, Brock shrinking further into his seat. 

“You look like the kind of guy that would go to a bookstore and pretend to look lost to see if a girl would talk to you,” Ellie adds, sending the guys into a frenzy. 

“He wouldn’t have to pretend to be lost,” Elias says, poking a pouting Brock in the leg. “You should come around more, Ellie.”

“She’s spent too much time with Quinn already,” Brock whines, Quinn pulling her so she’s practically in his lap, kissing her cheek.

“I told you,” he whispers, just loud enough for only her to hear. “I need you to come around more, too.” Ellie turns to him, her cheeks burning before they both burst out laughing. “That sounded horrible.”

The four of them fall into an easy conversation, the three boys doing everything they can to make Ellie feel included, not shying away from teasing her like they were each other earlier. She felt comfortable. 

Ellie eventually excused herself to go to the bathroom and get more drinks for her and Quinn, the alcohol finally hitting her. She barely finds her way back to the room the guys were in, Thatcher’s house seeming much bigger now that she wasn’t sober and much harder to navigate without Quinn taking her around.

She didn’t mean to listen to their conversation, standing on other side of the opening without them seeing her.

“Brock, I swear, if brains were dynamite, you wouldn’t be able to blow your fucking nose,” she hears Elias say, stiffling a laugh as Brock mumbles something about not meaning to spill his drink on Elias.

“Anyway,” Quinn grunts, sounding like he was getting off the floor.

“Ellie is awesome, by the way,” Elias says, Ellie sure she missed some sort of segue that could have led the conversation from Brock to Ellie.

“She’s snarky,” Brock adds, Ellie hearing a smack and Brock letting out a cough. “That’s not a bad thing.” 

“I met her by accident but I cannot think about what it would be like without her now,” she hears Quinn say, Ellie trying to figure out if she actually heard him right. That sounded like he was much more serious about her than she thought he was. 

“Woah, Quinn,” Elias says. “You met her a few months ago.”

“God, I know,” she hears Quinn let out. “But you know how you just know sometimes? You run into this person one day and they just make your life better?”

“You guys made my life worse since I met you,” Brock mutters. “I say goodnight to her every night and I can’t wait until I can say good morning to her the next day.” 

“You’re a simp.”

“Can you blame me? She’s perfect.”

Ellie finally enters the room, trying her best to pretend that she didn’t just hear everything Quinn told his friends, the ones he told her he would trust with anything. It had to mean something that they already knew who she was before coming and that he could tell them those things unprovoked.

Quinn lights up at the sight of her, giving her another kiss and wrapping his arms around her when she sits down. “You took a bit,” he comments. 

“This house is confusing,” she lies.

Elias and Brock continue to bicker while ignoring Ellie and Quinn. Ellie eventually finishes her drink, along with the third one that Brock had managed to hand off to her at some point, sinking down so her head was in Quinn’s lap.

“How often do you think about the future?”

“I mean, I’m normally thinking about what I’m making for my next meal once I finish the one I’m eating.”

Ellie groans, their hands intertwined and in constant movement, suddenly regretting how much they had both had to drink. She looks up at him, a smile on her face despite the look on his that told her he had absolutely no thoughts behind those eyes. “Like, us in the future. Our future.”

“Huh,” Quinn starts, “I don’t know. I like us right now where we are.” 

Ellie nods, trying to hide the disappointment that she felt. Why could he tell Elias and Brock what he thought about her, but not tell her? He hadn’t even called her his girlfriend to her face, yet. Were they even boyfriend and girlfriend yet? Was it too early to even ask, or should she even ask at all?

They were staying over at Thatcher’s house at this point, neither of them in the position to drive, Elias and Brock electing to stay on the couches. Quinn pulls her up and kisses her, a yawn escaping her after he pulls away. “Want to head to bed? Thatch said we can snag one of the guest rooms.”

Ellie nodded, Quinns hand in hers as he lead her down the hallway. She should be nervous, the first night they were spending together completely unplanned and in one of his teammates house instead of somewhere special. 

But it was with Quinn.

She was fine.  

___________________

“When are you going to be ready?” 

“When I am.”

“You’re taking way too long.” 

“I am not taking too long, you got ready too quickly.”

“Kendyl, I took an hour to get ready to meet Quinn and his friends, and you started getting ready before I got here,” Ellie groans, lying down on Kendyl’s bed. The group chat Ellie had with Quinn and the guys was blowing up, asking where Ellie and Kendyl were. After meeting Kendyl a while back, Quinn was convinced she would be the person to set Brock straight. Ellie wasn’t convinced, but what was the harm of introducing them?

“I’m meeting a Canuck, tonight, El, I have to look good.”

Ellie sits up, looking at Kendyl in her mirror. She knew her friend was nervous. No matter what she could say, nothing would change. “I promise you, you could wear nothing more than a trash bag and Brock would be drooling over you.” 

Kendyl took a deep breath. “Are you sure?”

“Ken, you’re beautiful. You’re funny. You can verbally spar with anyone to get what you want at any time. If you decide you want something to happen with Brock, there’s no way he wouldn’t agree to it.”

Kendyl nods, finally getting up and grabbing Ellie’s hand and her coat to drag her out the door. 

“Are we sure we’re going to have fun?” Kendyl asks, the shaking in her voice something Ellie had never seen before.

“You sound like me now.” It was still winter in Vancouver, the below freezing temperatures combined with the warmest bar appropriate outfits they had not enough to actually keep them warm as they walked through the city to meet all of the guys. 

“What are they like? I only know Quinn.”

Ellie has to stop and think for a moment. How did she even begin to describe them? “I think you just have to wait and see. Quinn is nothing like them.” 

“Oh, my god, you hate your boyfriend's friends.”

“No, what?” Ellie asks, unable to hide her laughter. “I really like his friends. I’m getting closer with Elias and Brock is definitely good for a laugh when you need it.” 

Kendyl nods, both of them shivering as they walk. Quinn had such a warm jacket, Ellie thought back to the night the two of them met. She wouldn’t have been able to see herlife with Quinn coming. She thought Kendyl was just an annoying coworker, Quinn would be just a hook up, and that she would end up having to move home because of her mom and Alex. She never thought it would be this. 

They get to the bar after feeling like they were walking forever, Quinn making a beeline to Ellie as soon as they made eye contact. “God, I’m happy you’re here,” he slurs, planting a sloppy kiss on her cheek.

“Wow, you’re already drunk,” she points out, trying to push him away slightly. Quinn had told her they were going into a break in the season, so getting drunk was necessary. She had seen him a little drunk, more tipsy than anything, but never like this, and never in public. “Let’s get you some water, babe.”

Quinn lets out a giggle, slinging his arm around Ellie while she focuses on him instead of getting Kendyl over to Brock. She looks around the bar for her friend, or at least one of the guys to hopefully help her make sure he doesn’t go much farther than he already was with the alcohol. 

“Ellie, right?” she hears from behind her as she sets Quinn down at the booth in the back where the rest of the guys were seated. She turns around, one of the new guys in the office standing behind her, glass of beer in hand. 

“Uh, yeah, hey. Dylan, right?”

“Declan, actually,” he corrects her, a quick apology escaping her lips. “Sorry, I don’t mean to interrupt, I just saw Kendyl over by the bar and she mentioned you were here. I wanted to say hi.”

Even though it was darker in the bar, Ellie swears she saw him blushing, fidgeting and acting nervous in front of her. The guys didn’t seem to notice she was even standing there, but Declan seemed to be trying to take in everything about her. 

“Are you here with anyone?” she asks, feeling Quinn pull her into his lap, Ellie falling without an ounce of grace down towards him. “Sorry, this is my boyfriend, Quinn, and some of his friends.”

“Uh, hi,” he says, Ellie feeling Quinns arms wrap tighter around her as Declan talks, “I’m here with my roommate, but I lost him about half an hour ago.” 

“You should join us then,” Quinn says, moving him and Ellie further into the booth to make room for Declan. The tone in his voice told her he really didn’t want to do that. 

Kendyl finally comes back with drinks, Quinn taking the beer that was meant for Ellie and downing it much faster than he should have. Brock was already captivated by Kendyl as soon as she sat down, Elias rolling his eyes as he was making a fool of himself, Kendyl finding it weirdly endearing.

“So, Deacon,” Quinn starts, much louder than he should have been. “How do you know my girlfriend?”

“Uh,” Declan says, as caught off guard by Quinn’s sudden shift in mood as Ellie is, “I work with her. Just started about a month ago.”

Quinn nods. “What did you do before this?”

“I was a nurse in the ICU at Vancouver General.” 

“Couldn’t handle it, Derek?” 

“Quinn, what?” Ellie scoffs. 

Declan coughs, clearly getting uncomfortable fast. “It was a lot, so no. I liked helping people, but seeing traumatic thing after traumatic thing takes a toll on you really fast. So I went back to school and ended up with Ellie and Kendyl.” 

“Ah, a college degree.” 

“Quinn,” Ellie hissed. She didn’t like where this was going, Quinn holding on to Ellie like he was marking his territory. 

“I actually don’t have my degree, yet.”

“Interesting thing to brag about?” Declan says, nervously sipping on his beer. 

“Well, it’s hard to finish when you get called up to play with the Canucks, you know?”

Declan shrugs. “Is that the CFL team? I don’t follow sports.”

Ellie gets off Quinns lap, pushing Declan aside and dragging Quinn along with her. She didn’t need to hear what Quinn was going to say next. He was starting to act like a jackass and she didn’t want to see more. 

The two of them end up outside, the cold hitting Ellie like a slap in face. “What is wrong with you? He wasn’t doing anything for you to act like that to him.”

“I don’t like him,” Quinn pouts.

“You just met him.”

“I don’t like people who are trying to take my girl.”

Ellie can’t help but scoff. “‘Take your girl?’ What, am I your property? Did you get a good dowry? How many sheep did you have to give my family in exchange for your hand?”

Quinn rolls his eyes. “Come on, Ellie.”

“No, Quinn, you come on. He wasn’t hitting on me. He doesn’t even know me to like me.”

“Of course he likes you, Ellie, look at you.” Quinn takes a step closer to her, suddenly getting softer towards her. “You’re so pretty. You’re so smart. You know what to do with everything.” 

“If he likes me, that doesn’t matter,” Ellie snaps, still annoyed with him. “I don’t like him. I like you. I’m dating you. That should be enough for you to not act like an asshole towards him.”

Quinn hangs his head. “I’m sorry.” 

“You should be saying that to him.”

The two of them stand there in the cold in silence, Ellie not wanting to budge and Quinn wanting her to go with him. “Come with me?”

Ellie bites her lip, her mood ruined because of him in just a short amount of time. “I think I’m going to go home. I’m tired, anyway.”

“Let me walk you?” Just like the night they met.

“No, it’s fine. I’ll let you know when I’m back.”

They stand there for another moment, Quinn making the first move to pull Ellie in for a kiss. “I love you, Ellie.”

Ellie hadn’t been thinking about love with him yet. She wasn’t there yet. “Goodnight, Quinn,” she told him, turning and walking away, leaving him there on the sidewalk.

___________________

“Have you ever loved anyone?” 

“Uh, you.”

“Not that kind of love, idiot.”

“Oh, um. I was in love with Tess Virtue for a while there.”

“While I get that, I still don’t mean that kind of love, Alex.” 

Alex laughs on the other end of the call, Ellie getting ready for work while he got ready for class. “El, you’re the other sister here, aren’t I supposed to be asking you this?”

Ellie and Quinn were in a weird place since Ellie left that night. She had hoped that Quinn was too drunk to remember that he had told her loved her and Ellie’s response was just to walk away. She didn’t know if she was in love with him. She knew she wanted to be with him. She didn’t know if she loved him.

“I mean,” Ellie starts, not sure where to go. 

“Are you and Quinn ok?” Ellie tells her brother everything that happened, Alex staying silent for a few seconds after she finished. “Ellie, you did this last time.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Not to go psychology major on you,” Alex says, earning a groan from his sister, “But I think you’re more messed up from Dad leaving than you like to admit you are. You have what sounds like a solid relationship with this guy but you’re afraid that if you let him love you and you let yourself love him, that he’s going to leave just like Dad did. He left us with Mom and we never got that love back.” 

Ellie takes a deep breath. “Jesus. At least I know your degree is worth it.” 

“I could be wrong. I’m only six semesters into this degree, after all.”

“I hate you.” 

“I love you, too, El.” 

Everything goes back to her parents. There’s no reason she couldn’t love Quinn. 

She was in a daze on her commute to the office. Does she love him? Regardless of Alex’s psychoanalysis, even if their dad leaving them with their mom made her think anyone who would love her would leave, is she able to love him?

She wanted to be with him, but she didn’t know what it was like to love him.

“You look horrible,” Kendyl says, Declan trying not to make eye contact with her at their little desk clump, probably trying to not agree. 

“Thank you, for that,” Ellie huffs, dropping her bag on the floor before she falls into her chair. “I just had a weird morning. Don’t really want to talk about it.” 

The morning passes by in a blur, the menial tasks of her job at least giving Ellie something to take her mind off Quinn. Anytime her mind would start to wander, anytime she thought about him in any way, she would just switch back to work mode and force herself to do whatever it is she needed to do.

“Hey,” Ellie thinks she hears from behind her, someone sounding just like Quinn. She ignored it, figuring it was just her imagination and her officially losing her mind over what was going on in her relationship. “Babe?”

Ellie jumps, thoroughly surprised that Quinn was actually standing behind her. “I thought you were leaving for Florida today.”

Quinn pulls her up, kissing her hello, a soft look on his face that told Ellie that everything was ok. “We leave in a few hours, so I wanted to come by and surprise you. Do you have a minute?”

Ellie nods, following Quinn down to the lobby of the building. She knew that if she went somewhere in the office, Kendyl would probably have her ear glued to the other side of the wall of whatever room they were in to try to listen to their conversation. 

“So, you don’t love me,” Quinn lets out slowly, pausing a little between each word, breaking Ellie’s heart each time.

“God,” she lets out.

“It’s ok.” They stand in silence, what they had with each other when they first met already somehow dying off between them. “I’m ok.”

“I want to love you. You know I have other things going on that are messing with my mind. You know me.” 

Quinn rolls his eyes, Ellie taking a step back. “What, the stuff with your mom?” Ellie gives him a small nod. “You can’t keep using that as an excuse, Ellie,” he snaps.

Ellie recoils at his words, the person in front of her not the same one who told her would always be there for her when she needed him, that he would help if she would let him and that he wanted to be there, for her and with her, for everything. This was someone who wouldn’t do any of that. “It’s not an excuse. It’s my life, Quinn. You grew up never having to worry about coming home from school and learning that the lights were turned off, or getting scared that the heat would get cut off in the middle of the winter, or that you were two days away from living in a car,” she nearly yells at him, catching him off guard. “I’m sorry that it messed me up and I’m trying to fix it and at least be honest with you about it because I want to be with you.” 

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, you idiot. I want to be with you. But I don’t know what it’s like to be loved by someone who stays. I don’t know what it’s like to love someone who wants to stay. I think I love you, but I don’t think that my work is the place to figure it out.” 

Quinn smiles at her, hugging her and holding her tight, every part of her relaxing as he does so. “That’s all I need. That’s all I want.” 

___________________

“Ok, if we have to stay all night, then we’re ordering food.” 

“I never agreed to staying all night.” 

“Ellie, we have to get this done before we go home.”

“Yeah, but I have plans tonight. I’m not staying all night, extra pay or not.”

Declan groans, a stupid smile on his face. “Are you driving to these plans tonight?”

Ellie gets a bad feeling in her stomach, one that puts a smile on her face regardless. This project had forced them together much more often than Quinn probably would have liked if he found out. The client was demanding it be done three weeks faster than anticipated,which meant they had to get it done before Monday. “Nope. Why?” Declan gets up from the table the two of them and Kendyl are sitting at in the conference room to give them more space to spread out, running over to his desk and yanking one of the drawers open. “Dex, what are you doing?” Ellie calls.

The three of them had already been in the office much longer than everyone else, the rest of their colleagues having left early for the weekend while the three of them stayed behind.

Ellie had plans with Quinn that night for the first time in a while.

“Getting this,” Declan says, pulling her out of the spiraling thoughts she was having about her relationship.

He holds up three plastic red cups and a bottle of rum, the one alcohol that Ellie could stomach without any mixer, a sociopathic tendency as Kendyl would call it. “Why is that there?” Kendyl asks.

Declan shrugs, popping open the bottle with ease and pouring way more than a single shot into each of the cups. “One of the clients gave it to me as a thank you.”

“We never get alcohol as a thank you,” Ellie scoffs, Kendyl agreeing.

“Men,” Kendyl rolls her eyes.

Declan laughs, raising his cup to Ellie and clinking it against hers, downing it in a few seconds as he watches Ellie do the same. Both of them cough, the liquid burning down their throats much more than they were expecting, neither of them breaking eye contact with each other while forgetting Kendyl was there with them. “Alright, we work until we’re done. We refill when we need to.”

Ellie smiles at him, the warmth of the alcohol already coursing through her. Her phone starts buzzing, a call coming in from someone whose contact she can’t quite make out. “No phones.”

The three of them get to work, the sun setting without them realizing it as their phones keep buzzing over and over again. They weren’t even entirely sure what the project was that their boss was asking of them, but then again, when were they ever?

They had to have been working for at least two hours straight without moving, feeling like they hadn’t even made a dent in the amount of tasks they had for the project. “I need to go home,” Kendyl groans, rubbing her hands over her face.

“We need to finish this,” Ellie points out.

“We need more alcohol.” Declan gets up, already somehow emptying the bottle into their three cups. He winks at Ellie, yet again ignoring Kendyl and sending a chill down Ellie’s spine before heading back out of the conference room without another word. 

Kendyl squeals once he’s out of earshot, shaking Ellie’s arm. “Oh, my god, he is so obsessed with you.”

“He is not,” Ellie insists, the heat running to her cheeks at the thought of her coworker liking her. She’s dating Quinn. Dating a coworker is out of the question. Dating Delcan isn’t even a thought.

“Ellie, I’m not even here when he’s around. You two are flirting so much.”

“I’m not sure you know what flirting is.”

“What about Quinn?”

Ellie’s stomach churned at his name. “Quinn and I are fine,” she tells Kendyl, trying to ignore how high her voice got involuntarily. 

“El.”

“Ken.”

“You’re lying to me.” Ellie bites her lip, hating that Kendyl knew her well enough to tell. “What’s going on with you two? You were off last time I saw you together.”

Ellie sees Declan out of the corner of her eye shifting around the desks outside the conference room. “I have no idea.” Kendyl stays silent, Ellie feeling like she has to fill the space. “We see each other less and less now, part of it because of both our jobs right now.”

“Well, that makes sense, that happens.”

“But when we do spend time together, we don’t say anything. We barely talk anymore at all. It’s like we ran out of things to say.”

“Who has nothing to say?” Declan interrupts, plopping down in his chair with another bottle of rum.

“Ellie and Quinn. Why do you have another bottle?” Kendyl asks.

“I have many bottles. Who’s Quinn?” 

“Ellie’s boyfriend.” 

Declan just nods, giving Ellie an uneasy feeling as they both take a sip of their drinks again, the eye contact between them mixed with the alcohol making her mind spin. “We’re just going through a weird phase right now. We’ll get through it.”

Kendyl recaps what Ellie told her, unprompted, to Declan, who infuriatingly just sits there, the alcohol making him look way too attractive for Ellie’s liking. “You don’t want my opinion, do you?” he asks.

“Kendyl gives me hers all the time when I don’t want it, you might as well give yours.”

“You’re both busy. That happens.”

“See?” Ellie prods Kendyl. 

“But,” Declan starts again, Kendyl sticking her tongue out at Ellie like a child, “Being busy could also mean not being willing to make time for each other.” 

Ellie took in a deep breath, hating what he was saying. It wasn’t like he said that much, but he said enough. The room suddenly felt too small, the work too overwhelming, the alcohol hitting her all at once. “I’m going to go to the bathroom,” she says, practically running out of the room. 

Are she and Quinn not making enough time for each other? Are they just ending their relationship without saying that it’s over? She didn’t think she wanted to break up with him, but at this point, what was staying with him doing for her? 

Ellie looks at herself in the mirror. She didn’t know if it was the alcohol distorting her perception of herself or if it was the mirror that probably hadn’t been cleaned in a while, but she didn’t look like herself. She looked off. She had felt off for a while, but she had no idea why. 

Was it because of Quinn? Ellie had heard that to be loved was to be changed, but what happens when you don’t like how you’ve changed? How much should she fight to get things back to the way there were when they first started seeing each other? What has to happen for her to just give up instead?

“Hey, sorry,” Declan startles Ellie, causing her to lose her balance and stumble against the sink. “I’m sorry that I upset you.”

“No, uh,” Ellie starts, wiping a tear from her cheek she didn’t even know had fallen, “You didn’t upset me.”

“Can I ask you something?” Declan’s voice is gentle as he takes a step closer to you, waiting for her to nod. “If you aren’t happy, why are you still with him?”

Ellie shrugs, not wanting to look at him. If she looks, she’ll fall apart. “I love him. I do. He knows me better than anyone. I’ve told him things I haven’t told anyone outside of my family, not even Kendyl. But sometimes,” she takes in a breath, her voice shaking. “Sometimes I wonder if it was all for nothing. We have no time for each other anymore. I see Kendyl more than I see him.”

“Ellie,” he says, his voice low as he steps closer to her. She was sure he could hear her heart racing. 

She was dating Quinn.

Quinn.

“Oh, fuck,” Ellie practically yells. “What time is it?”

“Uh, 8:30.”

“Quinn was picking me up at 8:15.” Ellie runs from the bathroom, leaving Declan calling after her. She grabs her stuff from the conference room without saying a word to Kendyl. 

She hears Declan in the background, calling after her as she runs down the stairs, dropping things in the stairwell that she doesn’t bother to pick up. She was rattled, Quinn already waiting for what had now become twenty minutes without her so much as texting him back the entire time.

Declan catches up to her, everything she’s dropped in his hands when she bursts through the front door of the building, Quinn’s car at the curb with him leaning against it scrolling on his phone. He looks up, his eyes going between his disheveled girlfriend and the one guy that she talked to that he was worried about, equally out of breath and carrying her things, both of them looking panicked.

He could tell Ellie was drunk. He knew she was drinking with him.

“What is this, Ellie?” he asks, trying to keep a calm tone in his voice as best as he can.

Ellie starts stammering, the alcohol not helping her at all. “We were doing that project I told you about, we lost track of time. I know I’m late but I wasn’t looking at my phone so we could finish as fast as possible.”

Quinn takes in a deep breath, looking up to the sky so he didn’t have to see her reaction to what he was about to say. “Ellie, I know he likes you. I told you likes you the night I met him. And, I know you like him, even if you don’t realize it yet. What am I doing here?”

Ellie steps toward him, her legs starting to shake as she tried to process what he was saying. “Quinn, you’re taking me out. You said we were meeting the guys tonight.”

“No, Ellie. I am. You’re gonna stay here.You’re gonna finish the project. You’re going to spend the night with Declan. You should be with someone who has time for you.”

“Quinn.” 

“We’ve both been busy. We’ve both had way too many things going on to focus on each other. We deserve better. You deserve better.”

“Quinn,” she repeats, standing right in front of him. She reaches up to his cheek, him leaning into her touch as he finally looks at her. “What are you saying?”

“You know, Ellie.” 

They stand there, forgetting Declan behind them and ignoring the world around them. Quinn cups her cheeks, kissing her like he did the very first time. “Bye, Eleanor.”

“Bye, Quinn,” Ellie whispers, not wanting to let go. 

Everything happened so fast. Ellie stood on the curb, wanting to drop her things right on the sidewalk and chase after him as he got in his car and drove away. She didn’t move as Declan came up behind her, gently putting his arm around her to try to comfort her. She didn’t hear him say that he wanted to get her back inside so that Kendyl could be with her, so that she’d have someone she trusted to talk to after what just happened.

She just stood there. 

___________________

Quinn was miserable. The guys were all with their partners, while Quinn sat in the middle with no one by his side. All he had was the beer in front of him that he didn’t even want to drink. 

He should be happy. They were already having a great season. They had already secured a playoff spot. The team was playing to have fun and winning was coming because of it. 

Brock comes up to him with Kendyl, the two of them still going strong. Quinn liked Kendyl, but seeing her still reminded him of Ellie, even if the two of them didn’t work together anymore. 

“Come on, buck up. There are plenty of girls here that you could at least talk to,” Brock tries to encourage him.

Quinn just shrugs him off, slowly turning the glass of beer around on the table. He wasn’t in the mood to be there, but there was no way the guys would let him leave this early. 

Brock leaves to get another round of drinks, Kendyl staying behind. “She’s doing ok, you know,” she says, barely above a whisper. 

Quinn sighs. “I miss her.” 

Kendyl puts her hand on his shoulder, giving him a sympathetic smile. “I know.”

They sit for a moment, both of them unsure what to say next. What do you say to someone who was still broken over something that should have never shattered in the first place?

“Hey, isn’t that that Dexter guy you work with?” Elias comes over and asks, pointing to the other side of the bar. 

Quinn feels the air escape his lungs, Ellie and Declan together, Declan holding on to her as a guy moved past them, pressing their bodies against each other. She didn’t hesitate to take the opportunity to drape her arms on his shoulders, getting up on her toes to kiss him, their foreheads pressed together when they pull away while they looked at each other like they were the only people in the world. 

“She’s happy,” Kendyl says. 

“She’s happier,” Quinn corrects her, his heart breaking at the fact that he couldn’t do that for her. 

#winter fic exchange 2024 #quinn hughes #quinn hughes one shot #quinn hughes fic #vancouver canucks #canucks

[sunkissed-zegras]

✮ 𝐭𝐲𝐩𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐤𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬, nhl players

♡ ─ pairing(s) | quinn hughes x fem!reader, jack hughes x fem!reader, luke hughes x fem!reader, alex turcotte x fem!reader, trevor zegras x fem!reader

♡ ─ summary | types of kisses that i think these players would give!

♡ ─ warnings | kissing (obviously LOL), mention of migraines, mention of criticism/hate, just overall fluff lmk if i missed anything

♡ ─ taglist | tbd! check out link in navigation!

♡ ─ ev's notes | THIS WAS SO CUTE, i loved it. i remember reading something similar to this but i can't remember who wrote it, so if y'all know who just tell me so i can credit them lol. this was one of my favorite things to write, it was short and sweet just how i like it. if you guys want a part 2, let me know, maybe like umich players or more nhl players. anyways, enjoy!!!!

♡ quinn hughes kissing their injuries

when you two had first gotten together, it started as a little joke. anytime he'd get a little injury, even something as small as a paper-cut, you'd kiss it. and every single time, quinn's heart would melt. now, quinn relies on you to make him feel better even if it is a little joke. one day, you were struck by a painful migraine. the throbbing in your head was relentless, and you couldn't find any relief. you laid in bed, your entire head feeling like it weighed a million pounds and your eyes blurry. in that painful moment, quinn leaned down and placed a tender kiss on your temple. it was a gesture of love and empathy, his way of trying to alleviate your pain, just like you always did with him. as his lips touched your skin, you felt a wave of warmth wash over you. the pain, though still present, seemed to lose some of its intensity. but it wasn't just the relief from the migraine that struck you. it was the overwhelming feeling of love and care that quinn's kiss had conveyed, and in that moment you knew that you loved quinn more than anyone else in the world.

♡ jack hughes comforting kisses

in the world of constant criticism and hatred, jack felt like he couldn't find any comfort in anything anymore. that was until he met you. you were the embodiment of warmth and comfort to jack, every moment spent with you felt like a beacon of light in his otherwise gloomy existence. every interaction with you felt like a warm, inviting embrace, like a soft, cozy blanket on a chilly winter's night. and that was just your mere energy, your kisses felt were on a whole other playing-field. until he met you, kisses were just kisses but now they had the power to erase his worries, and to melt away the troubles that weighed on his heart. they weren't just physical gestures anymore; they were a testament to your love and care. they were a silent promise that, in your arms, he would always find solace and warmth. jack couldn't help but be captivated by the tenderness and affection that your kisses conveyed. in a world that often seemed devoid of kindness, your presence and affection became a lifeline for jack. you were the antidote to the poison of negativity that threatened to consume him. your love was the source of his strength, a sanctuary where he could find respite from the world's harshness.

♡ luke hughes first kisses

the first kiss between you and luke was a moment of pure innocence and wholesomeness, filled with a deep sense of care and affection. it was a memory that would forever be etched in both of your hearts that set the mood for the rest of your relationship. it happened on a warm summer evening at the lake house before you both left for college. as the sun dipped below the lake, painting the sky in shades of orange and pink. you had been spending time together, talking and laughing, sharing stories and dreams. the conversation flowed effortlessly but then there was a gentle pause, a moment of unspoken understanding between you. the world seemed to fade away, leaving just the two of you standing there, bathed in the soft, golden glow of the setting sun. with a shy smile, luke reached out, his hand brushing against yours, fingers interlocking in a tender embrace. it was a simple gesture, yet it spoke volumes of the affection that had already begun to grow between you. your heart raced as you met his gaze, eyes locking in a shared moment of vulnerability and anticipation. the world seemed to hold its breath as you leaned in, your lips drawing closer to his, guided by an unspoken desire. when your lips finally met, it was a soft and gentle kiss, filled with all the sweetness of a first touch. it was a kiss that spoke of trust and tenderness, a promise of something beautiful blooming between you. as your lips lingered against his, you could feel the warmth of his smile, a silent affirmation of the connection you both felt. it was a kiss that held the promise of many more to come.

♡ alex turcotte accidental kisses

it was obvious, alex was head over heels for you. the way he talked to you, the way his eyes lit up when you talked to him, the way he talked about you ─ it was painfully obvious to everyone who knew alex. when he talked to you, his voice would soften, becoming a gentle, tone that was reserved only for you. he listened intently to your words, hanging on to every syllable as if they were precious secrets meant only for him. it was as though the world faded into the background when he engaged in conversation with you, his undivided attention focused solely on you. but it wasn't just in the way he spoke; it was also in the way he looked at you. his eyes lit up with an unmistakable brightness whenever you entered the room or caught his gaze. it was a look of genuine adoration, as if he couldn't believe his luck to have you in his life. your presence had the power to brighten his day, and it was evident in the warmth that radiated from his gaze. one day, you two hung out alone in your apartment to watch harry potter, who was your favorite series (which also happened to be his, too). as the rain tapped gently on your windowpane, you and alex curled up on the couch, surrounded by an array of blankets and pillows. the soft glow of the TV illuminated the room as the opening notes of the harry potter theme music filled the air. it was a familiar and comforting sound, setting the perfect mood. then, as you reached behind him to get the remote, alex thought you were leaning in for a kiss. he immediately started to freak out but he leaned in and kissed you, too. as he leaned away and he took a look at the confused look in your eyes, panic set in as he realized he might have misread the situation. what if you were just reaching for the remote? what if he was about to make a complete fool of himself? you instantly let out a soft laugh which somehow, made his anxiety worse. but then you put a hand on his cheek and kissed him again, a sweeter kiss than the one before. in that moment, the doubts and fears that had plagued him faded away, replaced by the warmth and certainty of your affection. this second kiss was different from the first. it was softer, sweeter, and filled with an undeniable warmth. it was a kiss that erased any lingering doubts and replaced them with a newfound sense of connection and affection. it was a kiss that told alex everything he needed to know. when you eventually pulled away, your eyes met his, mirroring the newfound clarity in your connection. no words were necessary to articulate what had just transpired between you both.

♡ trevor zegras angry kisses

you and trevor were stubborn which meant every argument was terrible. your unwavering determination was part of what drew you to each other, but it also meant that neither of you was willing to back down easily. at first, it might seem like a manageable fight, but as your stubbornness came into play, the situation would quickly escalate. voices would rise, and tempers would flare. each of you was convinced of your own viewpoint, and neither was willing to yield. the arguments would become intense, filled with impassioned words, and sometimes even hurtful accusations. arguments with trevor could be exhausting and emotionally draining, but they were also a testament to the passion and love that existed between you. neither of you could stand to see the other upset, which often led to passionate reconciliations after the storm of an argument had passed. and after every single fight, no matter how bad it was, trevor would always be the one to budge to everyone's surprise. he never wanted to lose you so even in the worst of both of your moments, he always was willing to compromise his ego for the wellbeing of your relationship. and after every single fight, he'd give you a kiss to mend things with the both of you. it was a sweet and passionate kiss. each time his lips met yours in that tender, passionate kiss, it was a silent promise that he would do whatever it took to keep your relationship strong and thriving. it was a way of saying, "i love you, and i'm sorry," without needing words.

-> make sure to check out my navigation or masterlist if you enjoyed! any interaction is greatly appreciated! <-

thank you for reading all the way through, as always ♡

#nhl imagine #nhl #nhl fic #hockey #nhl oneshot #nhl fanfiction #hockey fic #nhl imagines #nhl angst #hockey stuff #hockey boys #ice hockey #quinn hughes imagines #quinn hughes imagine #quinn hughes #quinn hughes x you #quinn hughes one shot #quinn hughes blurb #jack hughes #jack hughes x reader #jack hughes smut #jack hughes fic #jack hughes imagine #jack hughes blurb #jack hughes x y/n #nj devils #nhl hockey #hughes brothers #new jersey devils #luke hughes

[adorethedistance]

RollerMagic - Quinn Hughes x Reader

Hockey Masterlist

Warnings: mention of vomit, swearing, suggestive comment

Words: 1904

Requested: could you write about quinn pleeeease. had a dream last night: Quinn was in New Jersey for a Canucks and Devils game and went out with his brothers to a roller rink (?), met a girl by the candy machine (her candy had gotten stuck and he politely punched the machine to catch it) they spent the night talking (the two youngest Hughes looking for him like fools) and he invited her to watch the game and, soon after, a date; she said she would go to the game but would only accept the date if he scored a goal for her (he scored a hat trick)

A/n: Listen I don't know Quinn very well so I was not going for realism on this one. This is literally just my best guess at flirting with him but I truly don't know him enough to know if this is true to his character so I'm sorry for that! I've also just never done a Quinn fic before so first time for everything I guess?

“You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me,” I say to myself as the small pack of Skittles I’d just bought becomes wedged between the coils of the vending machine. I gently bang on the glass but the Skittles packet doesn’t budge. Utterly defeated, I huff out a soft sigh before dropping my head and staring at the fluorescent patterning of the Arcade carpet. Today is not my day.

I was late to work because of my car stalling, some kid puked in the middle of the roller rink and I had to clean it up, I left my lunchbox on the kitchen counter by accident, and now the only food that I had enough cash on me to buy was stuck in the vending machine. Could this day get any worse?

I lift my head, preparing to cut my losses, when I lock eyes with a guy who is probably around my age but definitely attractive. His wavy brown hair and soft eyes shimmer in the dim arcade lighting. He smiles at me politely and I smile back, too absorbed by my own infatuation to think twice about it. He glances to either side before making his way over. I panic internally at the idea of such a cute stranger heading my way, but I can’t bring myself to walk away.

“You doing alright?” The hazel-eyed boy asks upon seeing me in distress. 

“I’m great!” I fake being chipper as we both know the real answer. He laughs softly at the joke and I relax a tiny bit at the idea of making a good impression. “How much of that did you see?” I ask, praying his answer will keep my dignity intact. He hesitates for a moment before answering,

“Honestly? Everything.”

“Good. Good! This is good. First, I have a terrible day, and now a really cute boy has officially witnessed my latest and greatest downfall? This is just great.” I ramble out of intense nervousness.

“You think I’m cute?” He teases inquisitively. I search and scan my brain for a witty response to no avail.

“It was hypothetical?” I say though it comes out as more of a question than a statement.

“What’s hypothetical?”

“I don’t know, I was hoping if I said it with enough conviction that you wouldn’t question it.” The cute stranger apparently thinks this is very funny and heartily laughs at my confession.

“I’m sorry, I don’t think I got your name?”

“Y/n.” 

“Y/n,” he softly repeats my name, smiling at the way it sounds in his own voice. “I’m Quinn by the way.” Quinn extends his right hand politely, and the feeling of his strong hand in mine gives me butterflies. The shape of his palms and the length of his fingers. I wonder what it would feel like to have one around the base of my neck and the other in between-

“Nice to meet you, Y/n.” I blink rapidly to shake away the brief fantasy. God, it’s been a while.

“Uh, you too…?

“Quinn.”

“Quinn!” Quinn. “Quinn what?”

“Quinn Hughes.”

“Pretty good name.”

“Thanks, I guess?”

“Has a pretty good ring…” I pause, unsure of why I needed to tell him that.

“Have you worked here a while?” He asks, and my brows furrow in confusion.

“How do you know I work here?” Quinn laughs heartily before realizing I’m not making a joke. 

“You… you’re wearing a name tag and a t-shirt that says RollerMagic.” I close my eyes and wince at my own unfathomable obliviousness. I’m surprised he’s still talking to me with the way this conversation is going.

“Right. It’s been a long day.”

“Tell me about it.”

“What happened with you?” I ask, genuinely curious about the day of the slightly less unfamiliar boy. Not that I could even help the sudden interest. Especially when he looks at me this kindly and smells like icy sandalwood. 

“Also a bad day at work.”

“Where do you work?”

“Vancouver.” My jaw drops and Quinn bursts out laughing at the more than apparent shock on my face. I don’t laugh though, I just look at him bewildered, waiting for an explanation.

“Care to elaborate?”

“I play hockey.” “Like, for a living?”

“You could say that. Although it took a bit before making a living since I was drafted in 2018.”

“Oh shit, you’ve been pro since 2018?” He nods, surprisingly patient with my disbelief. “So you’re like, rich rich?” Quinn laughs at the question and concedes a little bit.

“I don’t know about that-”

“I know what sports contracts pay, my mom is a lawyer. Also, look at your watch. You can’t pretend and play coy when you’re wearing something that expensive.” 

“Touché. What about you? You never answered my question.”

“I’ve been working here since Freshman year so coming up on four years now.”

“You’re a student?”

“Yeah.”

“Where at?”

“Princeton.”

“Holy shit. So you’re like smart smart?” Quinn makes fun of me and I roll my eyes at him.

“Okay, I see how that sounds now. Wait if you’re from Vancouver what are you doing here?”

“We’re playing the New Jersey Devils? Ever heard of them?”

“No, I got that, you little priss. I mean why are you here as in why are you at a roller rink?”

“I don’t know. My idiot brothers were hellbent on going to an arcade.”

“Do they play for Vancouver also?” I ask playfully.

“They play for Jersey actually.”

“I was kidding…” After I trail off, Quinn and I begin laughing, the absurdity of the conversation continuously growing in magnitude. “But like, both of them?”

“Yep.”

“How did that happen?”

“You ask a lot of questions.” He states in a non-judgemental, yet amused tone.

“Only when someone is interesting enough to be worth interrogating.” Quinn smiles flirtatiously and I drop my eyes to the floor, shocked by my own boldness.

“You’re really cute,” He says simply, as if the very statement didn’t ignite every nerve in my body.

“So did Vancouver lose and that’s why you had a bad day at work?”

“No, just a rough practice. The game is tonight actually.”

“Good luck,” I say without any snark or playfulness. Just a legitimate regard for his success. Quinn is taken aback by the genuine care and he smiles brightly as a result.

“Thanks.”

“I’ve never been to a hockey game before.”

“Never?!”

“Never.”

“Well, then you’ve gotta come to the game tonight.”

“I don’t think I can.”

“Are you working late?”

“No, I’m off at six.”

“That’s perfect.”

“I don’t- I’m not-” I sigh, unsure of how much or little I should share with Quinn in this moment. “I can’t really afford a hockey game right now.” I put as simply as possible. Quinn pauses for a moment and then laughs softly.

“Don’t even worry about it.”

“...What?”

“Don’t worry about it.” I stare at him dumbfounded as if I’m stunned he could be so nonchalant like this. 

“There’s gonna be three of us from the same family out on the ice tonight and our parents don’t even live here. I’m pretty sure we can swing getting you a seat or two.”

“I can’t accept that. We just met and I’m not really cool with taking things from strangers.”

“Even if it’s a really cute boy with a sports contract?” He says jokingly and I drop my guard a tiny bit. I huff out a sigh, still feeling conflicted and slightly uneasy. Quinn picks up on the uneasiness and looks me in the eyes before softly saying, “Look, you don’t have to take me up on the offer, but it would be really cool to see you there tonight. Either way, it’s totally fine with me.” The lengths to which he is going just to ease my anxieties and ensure my comfort fills my chest with warm, radiant light and I smile gently at the level of consideration.

“...Okay.”

“Okay. Could I get your number to send you all the information you’ll need?”

“Is that the only reason you want my number?” Quinn looks off and shrugs a little as he admits,

“Well, I’d also like to get to know the pretty girl from the roller rink. And I was hoping I could possibly take her out on a date while I’m still in town?” My stomach erupts into a million butterflies and I hold out my hand to take his phone. He gives me the unlocked device after setting up a new contact. I brazenly decide I should keep Quinn on his toes, out of concern that he thinks I’ll make things easy for him.

“If you win tonight you can take me out.”

“Bro, what?”

“I’m serious!”

“Why? This is so childish!”

“No, this is serious, Quinn. I can’t date a loser!”

“Oh my god- okay, fine. If we win-”

“Win what?” A strange voice says from behind me. I turn around to see two other boys have appeared behind me and Quinn from seemingly thin air. Out of fear of more of them appearing, I lean back against the vending machine I was once sworn enemies with. Seeking shelter in the cool glass that’s been illuminated by LEDs.

“Nothing.”

“Is this guy bothering you, sweetheart?” The tallest one says and the one he’s standing with laughs. 

“Seriously, Q. We leave you alone for ten minutes.”

“I’ll meet you guys in the car,” Quinn speaks up, clearly flustered by their presence in this moment.

“Okayyy, don’t be long, lover boy.” 

“You’re on the clock.”

“And that was…”

“The idiot brothers I was talking about.”

“Right. Got it.” I’m amused if anything, but I can tell Quinn is struggling to shake off the encounter. Rolling my eyes, I extend my hand to him which he takes confusedly. Pulling him closer to where I’m leaning against the vending machine, he gets the idea and steps forward to close the gap between us. I didn’t anticipate being flustered by the close proximity, but as he steps closer he places his hand against the glass of the vending machine, above my head. His crisp scent is stronger and I’m grateful he took the invitation to close in.

“Anyway. If we win-”

“Mhm.”

“I get to take you out?”

“And if you lose?” I ask, challenging him. He takes a moment to think it over.

“I don’t know. What happens if we lose?” I mimic his expression from when he was deep in thought, before saying with a completely straight face,

“I kill you.” We both burst out laughing. I hate to think that I already like Quinn as much as I do.

“I guess I’ll make sure to win.” 

“You better.” Quinn backs up and the excitement I was having trouble controlling vanishes when I can no longer feel him near me. My subconscious urges me to be nearer to him and I push off of the vending machine as well. Quinn looks past me and I follow his gaze. He’s examining the Skittles packet that I abandoned, and in one swift movement, he hits the side of the machine and the packet neatly falls to the bottom. My lips part in shock and I’m amazed at how seemingly easy that was for him. He grabs the bag and holds it out to me like it’s no big deal, but I can tell he’s very proud of himself.

“See you later tonight then?”

“See ya later.”

***

A/n: hope y'all liked it and I've got a Jamie fic in the works so stay tuned!! Special thanks to the person who requested this !

#Quinn Hughes #Quinn Hughes x reader #Quinn Hughes x y/n #Quinn Hughes x you #Quinn Hughes fanfiction #Quinn Hughes fanfic #Quinn Hughes fic #Quinn Hughes imagine #Quinn Hughes one shot #Quinn Hughes oneshot #Quinn Hughes reader insert #Quinn Hughes smut #Quinn Hughes fluff #Quinn Hughes angst #nhl #nhl fanfiction

[puckinghischier]

Nervous

Jack Hughes x fem!reader, smitten!Jack

summary: request for jack and reader on their wedding day

notes: this is my first time writing anything for jack and i literally had so much fun with it. i hope you guys like it 😌

[2.6k]

~

Jack had never been this nervous before. Not during nationals games, not on his draft day, not on the night of his rookie debut, and not in any circumstance that he can remember. Ever. He’s not usually the type to dwell on feelings of nerves, trusting his skill and his ability to focus on the task at hand to get the job done.

Today, though, is the most nerve-wracking day of his life. It’s his wedding day, for crying out loud. The day he gets to marry the girl that has been there for every major event of his life. The girl that has never missed a Devil’s home game. The girl that he’s pretty sure his family loves more than him. The girl that has stuck by him through every hardship and crazy hockey season so far. His girl. The girl he gets to make his wife.

Hell, he wasn’t even this nervous when he asked you to marry him. He recalls the day as if it happened mere hours ago, not a year and a half earlier.

“Jack, where are we going? I thought you said you had an event with the team tonight? You’re going to be late,” you ask, noticing you’re driving further and further away from the city.

You had been doing laundry, trying to get ahead on some chores you had been neglecting, when Jack had come into the living room and told you to put your shoes on, he wanted to take you somewhere. You had asked him where, and if you needed to change, but he simply shook his head no and told you it was a surprise. This wasn’t anything out of the ordinary for Jack. You just assumed he found a new ice cream place he thought you would love, or some quaint little coffee shop he knew you’d like.

You didn’t think anything of it until you found yourself watching the city disappear into the distance almost forty-five minutes later, no destination in sight.

“We’re almost there, darling. Don’t worry that pretty little head of yours,” is all he said, taking his eyes off the road for only a moment to flash one of his soft smiles in your direction before continuing to drive.

You sit in the comfortable silence, a slow country ballad playing softly on the radio. Jack’s hand resting on your thigh adding a much-needed warmth to your body, not having grabbed a jacket before Jack dragged you out of your shared apartment. You watch the road around you become surrounded by trees, admiring the greenery that seems so hard to come by in the city.

Before you realize it, too lost in your own thoughts, Jack is turning off of the paved road you were traveling onto a dirt road, clouds of dust billowing behind the car. You lean forward a bit, trying to take in the scenery to find any sort of clue as to where you were. You’re just about to ask where he’s taking you, yet again, when you see the most beautiful scene appear through the windshield.

At the end of the road stood a large red barn, aged in all the right ways. The red was slightly faded, showcasing the years of sun damage and there were pieces of the shingled roof missing, lost in the wind who knows how long ago. Off to the left of the barn was a large area surrounded by a wooden fence, a few horses grazing on the bright green grass. The sun was just beginning to set, causing one side of the barn to be coated in golden sunlight, the other side blanketed in a shadow. As Jack turned the car to enter the field where the barn sat, you noticed the obscene number of lights strung high into the trees covered by the shadow of the barn, giving the effect that little drops of sunlight were dripping from the limbs.

“Jack…what- where are we?” You ask him, disbelief lacing your tone.

“Just a little place I stumbled across with Luke one day. We were out for a drive, just wanting out of the city for a few hours. Found this place and instantly thought of you. Knew I had to bring you here,” he reveals, parking the car and turning off the engine.

Jack opens his door to get out of the car and quickly moves to open yours, taking your hand while leading the two of you over to the forest of lights. You’re so busy looking up at the sight in the trees that you miss the large, wooden arch set up in the middle of the two biggest trees in the mini forest. There were a few hay-bales on each side of the arch, large bouquets of white daisies placed all over the bales, with some even bunched around the top corners of the square arch.

Once you take in the scene in front of you, you turn your head to look at Jack, finding his eyes already on you.

“Jack, you have about three seconds to tell me what’s going on here,” you calmly tell him, even though your stomach felt like it was doing summersaults.

“I told you, I wanted to show this place to you. Thought you’d like it.” His lips curled into an amused smile once he noticed the glare on your face, knowing you were calling his bluff.

“I wanted to show you this place, because I knew you’d like it. Because I know you. How lucky I am to know you,” he begins, slowly moving you forward until you’re standing directly in front of the arch.

“How lucky I am that I’m the person you chose to trust with your heart. How lucky I am to be able to come home to you after a hard day. How lucky I am to be the recipient of your kindness and your love. How lucky I am to bask in your happiness and your spirit day after day. How lucky I am that you put up with the crazy world I live in, and do it without complaint.”

Your hands were starting to shake at this point, eyes watering.

“What I did to deserve all of this, I’ll never know. But I know I’ll never take it for granted. I’ll never take you for granted. And if you’ll let me, I’ll spend every day of the rest of our lives telling you how thankful I am to whatever celestial being lead me to you,” Jack pauses, dropping to his knee and fishing around in his pocket for the velvet box he’s had hidden in a pair of old skates in the closet for months now.

“You are pure sunshine, shining light on every single person you meet. Y/N Y/L/N, please, let me live the rest of my life sunburnt. Marry Me.”

That was the easy part. Asking you to marry him was the quickest and easiest decision Jack had ever made in his life. He hadn’t thought twice when he called Luke on a random Thursday afternoon, telling him he needed to help him run some “errands”, driving to the nearest jeweler as soon as Luke sat in his passengers seat. Didn’t even hesitate when he called your best friend, asking if you had ever talked about what your favorite diamond cut was. Not a nerve in sight when he flew out to meet your parents to ask for their blessing two months before proposing, claiming he was just making a quick trip to visit some friends.

So why? Why was he so nervous today? He’s been looking at himself in the mirror for twenty minutes now, worried that his bow tie is crooked, or that his hair looks too messy. He didn’t know why he was so focused on his appearance. You’ve seen him at his worst. You’ve been there to take care of him after far too many drinks on a night out celebrating a win, hair stuck to his forehead with sweat, head buried in the closest toilet. You’ve seen him after a brutal game, face red from exertion and weird imprints all over his body from his gear. You’ve seen him when he broke down after his first loss during his rookie year, putting all the blame on himself, holding him in your arms as he sobbed in your kitchen.

He knew you didn’t care if a few hairs were out of place, or if his tie was a centimeter too far to the left. But he did. He cared, because this was the most important day of his life, and you deserved for him to look his best. You deserved for him to make sure everything was perfect.

Jack is pulled from his thoughts by a knock at the door, Luke and Quinn making their way into the room.

“Ready, Rowdy?” Quinn asks, going to stand behind Jack in the mirror.

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” Jack responds, turning to look at his two brothers, forcing a smile that’s supposed hide all of his nervous emotions.

“Are you sure? Why do you look like you’re about to vomit, then?”

“I don’t? Do I? Oh god, what if she thinks there’s something wrong when she sees me? How do I make myself look like I’m not gonna hurl all over her dress. Luke, do I really look like I’m gonna blow chunks?” Jack frantically asks, looking between the two brothers, turning back around to look at himself in the mirror once again.

“Jack, breathe, man. You look fine. Luke was just being Luke. He doesn’t look like he’s going to vomit, right, Luke?” Quinn attempts to calm Jack, glaring at Luke.

“Yeah, I didn’t mean it. Sorry, Jack. You look fine. She’s probably gonna want to jump your bones or some shit. You look great.” Luke blurts, trying to not only escape the wrath of his eldest brother, but to keep Jack from actually vomiting.

“Okay, not what I meant but whatever works, I guess.” Quinn sighs, placing his hands on Jack’s shoulders to turn him back around.

“Listen, everything’s going to be fine. We just went to see Y/N, she’s nervous just like you are. I don’t know why, you’re both so painfully obvious with how much you love each other. There’s nothing for you to worry about. She loves you, man. More than I’ve seen someone love another person. As long as you’re standing there waiting on her at the end of the aisle, you could be covered in dog shit for all she cares. She just wants to see you. She just wants to marry you.”

Jack stares at his older brother, letting the words sink in. His thoughts drift to you, only three doors down, standing in your dress looking into the mirror just like he is, freaking out over things that don’t truly matter to him. He thinks about how you could walk down the aisle, hair un-brushed, pajamas still on, slippers on your feet and he would still be ecstatic to see you.

“You’re right, Q. Of course you’re right. I knew I chose you to be my best man for a reason,” Jack chuckles, feeling his nerves settle a bit.

“I know I’m right. I know you. And I know Y/N. As long as the two of you leave here today with the same last name, everything else could go wrong and you would still be the happiest couple I know,” Quinn removes his hands from Jack’s shoulders.

“But, nothing is going to go wrong, because Mom has been out there running around like a madwoman to make sure everything is in place. The only thing left is to make sure you get to the altar. Which is what we were sent here to do,” Luke chimes in, trying to assure his brother one last time.

“Alright. Yeah. I guess it’s time, huh?”

“It’s time, Rowdy. And it’s been a long time coming.” Quinn pats Jack on the back, the three brothers making their way towards the door that was left open.

Jack smiles at his brother’s statement, knowing you’re just as much a part of his brother’s lives as you are his. You watch every single one of Quinn’s hockey games (as long as he’s not playing at the same time as Jack and Luke) and scream loud enough for the neighbors to complain. You were there at Jack’s side for Luke’s draft day, just as proud, if not more, of the youngest Hughes. You always invite Luke over for a post-game dinner, knowing how tired he is after games and wanting to make sure he gets a meal before he goes home and claims he’s too tired to eat dinner. He knows you hold a special place in his mom’s heart, too. Her claim that you’re the daughter she never had proving to be true through this whole process, knowing she’s been involved in every step of this wedding right along side your mom and yourself.

Before Jack knows it, the ceremony is beginning and he’s being given the signal to make his way to the altar, standing next to his groomsmen as he waits for you to walk through those doors.

As he looks out over the crowd, he finds himself growing nervous once again. Did he put on enough cologne? Did he bring the right kind? What if he wasn’t wearing the one you told him was your favorite? Did he brush his teeth? What if he kisses you for the first time as your husband and his breath tastes like the burger he had for lunch? Oh god, what if you don’t want to kiss him because he has burger breath?

Quinn can sense the nervous energy radiating off of his brother once again. He places his hand on Jack’s back, giving him a few pats to let him know he’s right there next to him. That everything’s going to be okay.

Jack looks over at his brother only briefly before he hears the unmistakable tune of “In Case You Didn’t Know” by Brett Young start playing through the speakers. It’s Jack’s song for you. He plays it all the time when you’re in the car together, not even trying to be subtle. He loves to send it to you when he’s on the road, letting you know he’s thinking about you. There was absolutely no question in your mind as to what song you were going to choose when your mom asked what you wanted to walk down the aisle to.

He snaps his attention to the double doors that open at the other end of the large room. His stomach is in knots, really hoping he doesn’t actually look like he’s about to puke, because he sure feels like it right now.

As he watches the first flash of white make an appearance in the doorway, he knows he’s a goner.

You step into his full view, hand wrapped around your father’s arm, looking around at the various guests for only a split second before your eyes meet his. Jack swears, all time stops in that second. He can barely see through the tears that well in his eyes, completely in awe of you. You match his gaze, forcing yourself to keep the tears from dropping, not wanting to have mascara streaks running down your face before you even get to the altar.

The two of you simply stare at one another for what seems like an eternity. An unspoken declaration of love passed between one another in a simple glance. Your father having to tug on your arm slightly, forcing you to step forward, too lost in Jack for you to remember where you were and what was currently taking place.

As you start to walk down the aisle, every step bringing you towards Jack, towards the rest of your life with him, the feeling of calmness washes over his body. You’re here. You’re his. And you’re everything he has ever wanted and more. It’s in this moment, watching the rest of his life walk towards him, smile on her face, a single tear slipping down her cheek, Jack Hughes has never been less nervous in his life.

#jack hughes x reader #jack hughes blurb #jack hughes #jack hughes fanfic #jack hughes fanfiction #jack hughes one shot #jack hughes x y/n #jack hughes x you #luke hughes #quinn hughes #new jersey devils #hockey fic #hockey imagine #hockey #nhl x reader #nhl blurb #nhl oneshot #nhl imagine #nhl fanfic #nhl fic #nhl fanfiction #nhl players #nhl #nhl hockey

[karajaynetoday]

nothing's going right, and everything's a mess, and no one likes to be alone | jack hughes

author's note: don't ask me how the university semester timeline in this works. i have simply given reader a three week break in march bc why not. this is fanfiction okay, anything can happen 😂 no one proofread this for me so soz for any typos!

word count: 3.4k words

warnings: none that i can think of? but lmk if i've missed anything. soz if the ending makes you mad LOL i do love a cliffhanger

read part one here

read part two here

(This is a fem reader insert)

More writing here (soz that the masterlist is not up to date lol) | send thoughts/feedback/suggestions here

Somehow, the ill feeling of waiting until summer to see Jack again began to fade with each passing day. The itch to text him every time something exciting or infuriating happened to you began to lessen. The thoughts of him when you saw a funny meme he’d like, or your shared favourite foods on special at the grocery store, quietly stopped happening as frequently. 

But then there were the things that didn’t stop. The sharp pain in your chest whenever Jack’s smiling face popped up on your social media feed. The butterflies in your stomach whenever your parents brought him up in conversation, fuelled by whatever the latest updates were from their group message thread with Jim and Ellen. The joy that would wash over you when you heard about a Devils win or a Jack Hughes goal, followed almost always by a wave of sadness that you were hearing about it second or third hand, rather than from Jack himself.

You were the one who’d asked for space. You needed time, you’d said. Given the blow up of All-Star weekend, all Jack was doing was respecting your wishes; but a huge part of you not so secretly wished he’d be a bit more disrespectful and reach out. Your mind was a mess of conflicting thoughts, and your heart wasn’t sure which emotion to feel or where to go next. 

Since kindergarten, you’d barely gone more than a few days without seeing or communicating with Jack in some way. Now you were nearly a month without a word, and even though you were still mad at how he’d treated you, you were craving a return to the friendship you’d become so accustomed to. Jack knew you better than anyone, could basically read your mind with a single look, and although you had plenty of friends at college and still around in Toronto from high school, none came close to the camaraderie you shared with Jack. He was someone you could talk to for hours, or sit next to in silence for the same amount of time, it didn’t matter. With Jack, you could be utterly and entirely yourself, no complications. Now it felt like you were always pretending. And it was exhausting.

It was about 9pm on a Thursday night when you found yourself pushing through that exhaustion to try and complete yet another university assignment. For motherfucking economics. You couldn’t wait until you’d completed all of your compulsory economics credits because it was the absolute opposite of your cup of tea, when it came to academic subjects. This assignment was your last one, and you weren’t sure whether to cheer or cry at the idea of hitting the submit button on the online portal. Maybe you should’ve bought a confetti cannon to celebrate. Or a box of wine. Or booked yourself a flight somewhere fun, given you had a break from classes soon.

As soon as the thought of a trip crossed your mind, your phone began to buzz with an incoming video call. A video call from… Luke. Luke Hughes. 

Your face scrunched in confusion, as you swiped to answer the call, met with Luke’s smiling face and messy curls. 

“Hey sunshine! Long time no see. How have you been?” Luke spoke cheerily. Almost too cheerily. 

You were immediately suspicious and narrowed your eyes at the youngest Hughes. 

Luke was 3 years old when you met for the first time; he could barely remember a life without you in it. Given how inseparable you and Jack were, Luke became your de facto little brother, always tagging along where he could and joining in your adventures. Later on, when he became a teenager, you were the one Luke would come to when he was having issues with his friends, or trying to build up the courage to ask out the cute girl in his math class, or missing his brothers when they moved away. You were his second call after Ellen when he felt homesick at Michigan, and you were his first call when he had fucked up something that he felt his brothers would never let him live down. Emotional support and damage control, with a healthy dose of teasing and laughs thrown in. That was the dynamic between you and Luke. It also meant you could read him to filth when he was lying to you, and your honesty radar was through the roof at this sudden video call.

“I’m fine, Moose. Just trying to wrap up my final assignment before the break without losing my entire mind.” You offered weakly, half-expecting Luke to make a joke about your mind having been lost years ago, but the joke never came.

Instead, you saw the concern flicker across Luke’s face, just for a moment, before he forced a smile.

“How long is your break for? Any plans?”

“Three weeks, and not really. I promised my mother I’d spend a few days helping her with planning for their anniversary party in June, but that probably won’t happen until right before I go back to school.” You chatted absently, hitting save on your essay and standing up from the couch, bringing your phone with you as you moved into the kitchen to make yourself a drink.

You propped the phone up against the vase on your kitchen bench, reaching up into the cabinet to retrieve a glass. 

“Well, you should come visit. We’ve got like 5 home games in a row or something ridiculous coming up. It’d be fun!” Luke’s tone was cheerful, but cautious, like he wasn’t sure how you were going to react. 

You hummed in response, moving slightly out of view of your phone to get some ice cubes from your freezer and a soda from the fridge. 

“Besides, I heard a rumour that you’ve got an airline voucher to use. I’d hate for it to expire or something.” 

You could feel your heart starting to beat faster. Luke knew about the voucher. Did that mean Jack had told him about your fight? 

“The voucher won’t expire for three years. I’m sure I’ll manage to use it before then.” You deadpanned, stepping back into frame to see Luke rolling his eyes at you. 

“Yeah, sure, but will I survive that long without seeing you? Absolutely not. Come on, sugar. Please? Even if it’s just a weekend?” Luke had moved into full begging mode, with puppy dog eyes and everything.

You sighed, fidgeting with the straw in your drink and avoiding his gaze. 

“I don’t… we haven’t talked at all, Luke. I don’t know what he’ll do if I just show up there.” You half-whispered, feeling that all-too-familiar wave of sadness coursing through your veins. 

“He talked about you tonight at dinner. Says he misses you. But he doesn’t want to push, or not give you the space you wanted. But right now, he’s on the couch watching Gossip Girl, so…” Luke stated matter-of-factly, staring you down with a knowing look on your face.

Gossip Girl was something you’d insisted Jack get into when you were teenagers, as long as he “wanted to be called your official best friend”. And The OC. And Gilmore Girls. And One Tree Hill. And basically any other teen drama series you could think of. Collectively, those shows had thousands of episodes, and you always found yourself settling down to watch them whenever you were missing Jack more than usual. You’d never realised before that he did the same.

“Should… should we tell him I’m coming? I don’t want him to get upset by a bad surprise.” 

“Not at all, sugar. Book the flight and send me the details, I’ll sort out the rest.” Luke’s beaming smile made a smile of your own creep onto your face, as you nodded at him and went to retrieve your laptop from the couch to log onto the airline website.

“Now that that’s sorted, I was wondering, what does it mean when a girl asks me what my sun, moon and rising are? Should I be worried? Or is it a good thing?”

– 

Two days later, you were done with your semester and on your way to the airport. Luke had suggested you book a one-way flight, “That way, you can go home whenever you like!”, but you were starting to feel like the whole thing was a mistake. 

Nonetheless, you pushed through those feelings and boarded your flight. The whole ordeal took less than two hours, and soon enough you found yourself navigating the arrivals area at Newark airport. You spotted Luke’s lanky figure, clad in a Michigan sweatshirt, with his back to you. You couldn’t help but creep up on him and poke his side, cracking up with laughter as Luke jumped at least three feet into the air. He’d always been the easiest to scare, ever since you were kids. 

Luke cussed you out, and then pulled you into a bone-crushing hug. 

“Missed your face, sugarplum.” Luke murmured, as you pulled away from each other and he rested his hands on your shoulders, studying you. 

“Aw, Lukey. I’d say I’d missed yours too, but we really gotta do something about that hair.” You poked your tongue out as the youngest Hughes brother’s jaw dropped in mock offense. 

You retrieved your bag from the luggage carousel, and headed out to where Luke had parked. The two of you fell into easy conversation as Luke navigated through the New Jersey streets back to the apartment he shared with Jack. 

You managed to bury most of the nerves, but they came bubbling back to the surface when Luke pulled into the parking garage at the bottom of his building.

“Is… um… Is Jack home? Alone?” You managed to squeak out, and Luke looked at you like you were crazy. 

Ever since All-Star weekend, you’d been having a recurring nightmare about Jack and the girl from the messages you’d accidentally become privy to. In particular, it was a scenario where you would come home from wherever you’d been out, and opened the apartment door to find them… entangled, on every possible surface you could think of. You felt yourself starting to feel ill as the images from your nightmares started to flash back into your mind. 

“He’s alone. Ever since… ever since he came home early from All-Star, he’s been alone. None of the… usual visitors have been over. And he hasn’t been going to theirs, either. Not even when we’re on a roadie.” Luke said carefully, and you could tell he was trying not to upset you.

You could also tell that he was being honest. Because you could always tell when he was lying. But your mind was running a million miles a minute. Jack hadn’t… for a month? Because of his fight with you? You loved Jack, but you also knew (despite wishing that you didn’t know at all) that it had been years since he’d gone that long without intimacy. In fact, it was probably the longest since losing his virginity that Jack hadn’t fulfilled his desires. 

Your mind was starting to wander into the gutter, and you pressed your eyes closed to bring yourself back to Earth. All you could do was nod at Luke, before you both hopped out of the car and into the elevator. Luke insisted on carrying your luggage, so you found yourself fidgeting incessantly with your hands as the elevator climbed to the correct floor. 

You trailed behind Luke as he strode towards the apartment door and unlocked it, stepping inside and putting your bag down. He looked back and waved you into the apartment, pressing a finger to his lips. You tiptoed across the doorway, and your heart softened at the scene before you. 

You could see the back of Jack’s head leaned up against the couch, and an episode of Gilmore Girls playing on the TV mounted on the wall. In fact, it was one of your favourite episodes; where Jess comes back and shows Rory the book he wrote, and calls her out for dropping out of Yale. You smiled ruefully as you thought about the parallels between that episode and your current situation with Jack, as the argument between Jess and Rory played out on the screen.  

What do you mean?

You know what I mean! I know you. I know you better than anyone! This isn't you!

… 

This isn't you! This! You going out with this jerk, with the Porsche! We made fun of guys like this!

You caught him on a bad night.

This isn't about him! Okay? Screw him! What's going on with you? This isn't you, Rory. You know it isn't. What's going on?

I don't know. I don't know…

“Are we Team Jess or Team Rory this time, Jacky?” Luke called out, making you jump. 

“Team Jess all the way, obviously. Where have you bee-” Jack stopped dead in his tracks as he turned to face his brother, and instead saw you in the middle of his living room.

Jack’s face was a revelation. Confusion, at first. Then the briefest flash of hurt and anguish. Then a smile. Then caution and uncertainty, as he slowly stepped towards you. 

You let a breath you hadn’t realised you were holding, and quickly moved across the room, clumsily throwing your arms around your best friend. You felt Jack freeze momentarily, almost as if he was shocked at your touch, but that soon passed and you felt his hands slide around your waist and squeeze, bringing your bodies as close together as possible. 

You nestled your head on Jack’s shoulder, breathing in his scent. His thumbs softly rubbed up and down your side, and you felt him press a soft kiss into your hair. You stayed like that for a minute, or maybe longer, relaxing into the embrace.

The sound of the apartment door slamming shut made you jolt, and you rolled your eyes as you realised that Luke had tried to sneak way unnoticed and failed miserably. 

“Hi.” Jack whispered, pulling back from you slightly but keeping his hands locked around you. 

“Hi.” You whispered back, reaching up to brush his hair out of his eyes. 

“Is it still shit hair? Or better now it’s longer?” Jack teased, rolling his tongue between his teeth.

“Better. But only slightly.” You teased back, your hands slipping down to the back of his neck comfortably. 

The warmth of the surprise arrival was starting to fade. The dread you’d felt over addressing your fight with Jack was starting to set in, fast. The guilt you felt for being the catalyst for over a month for not speaking to your best friend was washing over you. Your heart rate was through the roof, and your palms were beginning to sweat. 

Jack sensed your change in mood, and pulled away from you to look you up and down.

“Are you hungry? Do you want to shower? Or take a nap?” He was nervous, too.

“I ate before my flight. And showered this morning. And it’s 11am, so I think I’m good on the nap front. But I do think we should… we should talk. About everything.” You were basically tripping over your words at this point, but Jack’s reassuring nod helped to calm your nerves. 

Wordlessly, Jack took your hand and led you over to the couch, gesturing for you to sit. You sat down and faced him, crossing your legs and resting your hands on your knees, still fidgeting with your hoodie sleeves. 

“I’m sorry - “ You both said unanimously, a gentle laughter filling the room. 

“I’m sorry I needed so much time apart, J. It fucking sucked, and it was my fault, and I just didn’t -” You began to ramble, only stopping when Jack leaned over and squeezed your knee reassuringly.

“You only needed that time because I was an asshole, sugar. It’s on me, really. I had no right to treat you like an occasional friend, or something that I shouldn’t prioritise -” Jack paused as you cringed, remembering the text messages that referred to his time with you as “boring family bullshit”. 

“I was thinking with my dick, not with my head, and that’s not fair on anyone.” You shot Jack a weird look, and he looked sheepish in return.

“Quinn… Quinn said that to me. After you told him to tell me about the messages. He’s right, thought. It wasn’t fair.” Jack continued, pausing to take a deep breath. 

“This whole… thing, this life -” Jack gestured broadly at the apartment around you, and you glanced around properly for the first time. Framed jerseys of Luke and Jack’s adorned the walls.Various photos of the Hughes family scattered about the place. The fridge, with a gas bill stuck to it, along with a polaroid of you and Jack from last Christmas. And a photo from your senior prom. And a group photo of everyone from last summer at the lake house, Jack’s mouth open in laughter with his arm slung over your bikini-clad shoulders. 

“It’s all I thought I ever wanted. And it’s amazing, and I’m so grateful. But it’s worth nothing to me, the money, the girls -” You felt yourself involuntarily cringe again. “The fame, the accolades, it’s worth nothing to me without the people that I love by my side. And if those people don’t know how much I love and appreciate them, because I treat them like shit, then that’s on me. No one else. Me.” 

You sat quietly, taking in Jack’s emphatic statement. You weren’t quite sure what to say. So instead, you gently reached over and took Jack’s hand in yours, lacing your fingers through his and squeezing softly, for a moment while you gathered your thoughts.

“I know the life you live, Jack. You don’t have to be sorry for it. Playing hockey was all you ever dreamed of, and I honestly can’t blame you for… enjoying… all the perks it comes with.” You swallowed the wave of nausea that hit you, before continuing. 

“I don’t… I don’t know what life looks like without you in it. The last month was such a bizarre experience, and not one that I ever want to repeat, but I also… I need to… Can I be honest?” You spoke softly, glancing up from your hands to meet Jack’s gaze, and he nodded encouragingly at you. 

“I wasn’t just upset because you made me feel like I was inconveniencing you, or cock-blocking you -” It was Jack’s turn to cringe. “I think I was upset because I was jealous. Because that will never, ever be me. And I think… I think I want it to be? Maybe? Fuck, I don’t know!” You dropped Jack’s hand and stood up from the couch, and started to pace the room. 

“Sugar, please sit down.” Jack pleaded, and you paused, looking back at him on the couch. One look was all you needed, and you narrowed your eyes at the smirk on his dumb face. 

“Why are you smirking? I am experiencing emotional distress, you asshole.” You seethed, running your hands through your hair in frustration.

“Tell me more about this jealousy thing. I’m intrigued.” Jack’s tone was light and teasing, and washed over you like sour milk. Your head whipped in his direction and your face must’ve said a thousand words, because Jack’s smirk soon disappeared and he hurriedly stood up and walked over, reaching out to touch you. 

“See, this -” You jabbed a finger into Jack’s chest. “This is why I have avoided this conversation for almost my entire life. Because you think it’s hilarious that we could ever go down that path. That we could ever be something more than what we are. Because I’m not good enough,or pretty enough, or just enough and I never will be, and I hate it. I hate it so much.” Your voice cracked on the last few words, and you felt the hot tears start to bubble out of your eyes and stream down your face. 

Jack didn’t say a word. He didn’t have to. He pulled you into a hug, bringing his hand up to your face and gently brushing away the tears with his thumbs. 

“Breathe, sugar. You need to calm down.” Jack said quietly, willing you to calm. That just made you cry harder. 

You were about to pull away, when you felt Jack cup your face with both hands, before leaning in to kiss you. 

#jack hughes #jack hughes x reader #jack hughes imagine #jack hughes one shot #new jersey devils #luke hughes #luke hughes imagine #quinn hughes imagine #my writing #nhl fanfiction

[hockey-fics]

That Night in Michigan - Quinn Hughes (mostly)

You can feel your eyes prickling with tears, your heart racing. Quinn had never spoken to you in that way before. Never in a million years would you have expected Quinn to speak to you that way.

Word count: ~9,100

Warnings: drinking

There were few things you could count on to be stable in your life. One of the few things that you could count on were summers with the Hughes family. Your parents were close with Ellen and Jim, close enough to receive an open invite to the summer home every year. From as early as you can remember your summers were spent on that same sunny lake in Michigan. 

You grew close with Luke, Jack, and Quinn over all those summers. It was on that lake in Michigan that some of your best memories were made. Countless hours splashing around in the lake, learning to paddle board, and water ski. You had your first sip of alcohol one year and your first time getting drunk a couple years after that. Late nights spent around a kitchen table playing round after round of whatever board game you were into that year.  

During those summers your feelings for Quinn changed. At some point he went from the friend you spent every summer with to the boy you spent ever summer with who you also had a crush on. Every year your feelings for him grew deeper and deeper. As time went on and you graduated from high school, with your confidence growing, you started to act on your feelings. In small ways, flirtatious comments here and there, compliments that were a little more than just friendly. But nothing more ever came from it. 

After everyone had graduated high school the summers at the lake house changed. When Quinn and Jack decided to purchase the house for themselves it changed even further. Visits weren’t as long or as frequent, but you looked forward to them just as much as you did when you were a kid. 

This year Quinn had invited you to the lake house for a week in August, when he would be there with his brothers and a group of friends that for the most part you didn’t know. Of course you agreed and after booking the time off work you made the journey to the lake house. 

Pulling into the driveway you hop out of the car, the hot air hitting your air-conditioning cooled skin like running into a brick wall. After pulling your few bags from the backseat of your car and lugging them up to the front door you push it open, music playing from somewhere in the house. 

“Hello,” you call out, pulling your bags inside and shutting the door behind you. Kicking your shoes off you turn your head when you see a figure appear next to you. 

“Hey,” Luke greets, walking over and pulling you into a hug. “Took you long enough.”

“Some of us take the speed limit as more than just a suggestion, Luke,” you tease. 

“You’re so boring,” Luke jokes, reaching over and picking your bags off the ground. You follow after him to the room you had spent many summers in, tossing the bag you were carrying onto the bed. “We’re out back when you’re ready,” Luke tells you before leaving you alone in the bedroom. 

Rifling through your bags you pull out a bikini, quickly changing into it before tugging your shorts and t-shirt back on. If you remembered one thing about the lake house it was to always be ready to be in the water. Heading through the house you follow the sound of music and chatter from the patio, stepping outside a few minutes later. 

“Y/N,” Jack cheers, a bottle of beer in his hand, though you could have guessed without the obvious indicator that he was a few drinks in. 

“Hi Jack,” you laugh, walking behind the chair he was in to lean down and wrap your arms around him. “Starting a little early?”

“It’s summer,” Jack defends with a chuckle. “You’re actually starting late.”

Standing up straighter your eyes scan the group of mostly unfamiliar faces till they land on Quinn. You can’t stop the smile that spreads on your face as Quinn gets up, walking around the table to pull you into a hug. “How was the drive?” Quinn asks, his arms still firmly around you. 

You can’t help but let out a sigh of contentment being in Quinn’s arms. “It was long.”

“I told you to just fly in and I’d pick you up,” Quinn reminds you. 

“I know, I just didn’t want to interrupt,” you tell him. 

“It wouldn’t have been an interruption,” Quinn says, pulling back from the hug. “But now that you’re here, do you want a drink?”

“Yeah, sure.” Turning around you follow Quinn back inside and into the kitchen, watching him pull the fridge open to show you the options. “What would you like?”

Your eyes focus on the selection, a teasing smile growing on your face. “Maybe one of the vodka sodas that I’m guessing you bought for me.”

Quinn chuckles, grabbing a can from the previously unopened box of vodka sodas. After handing it to you Quinn leans against the counter, his eyes focused on you. “It’s been awhile, hey? Feel like I’m missing out when I see you hanging out with Jack and Luke.”

“Well you’re the one who moved all the way to Canada,” you tease. “They’re only a half hour drive from me, you’re like…a hundred.”

“Forty-four, actually…I’ve checked.”

“Oh, sorry, just a short forty-four hour drive, I’ll be sure to pop in for a visit more often.”

“I’ll just come see you in New York instead…probably be more fun than Vancouver.”

“Yeah, you can stay with me in my four hundred square foot apartment,” you joke.

“Sounds cozy.”

Reaching over you take Quinn’s hand in yours, pulling him through the kitchen to stand just in front of you. “I don’t mind getting cozy with you.”

“I definitely need to make a trip then.” 

Before you have the chance to say anything else you see someone walk into the room and you pull back from Quinn, looking over at him. “Hi,” you say to the man who you had never met before. 

“Hey,” he greets, setting an empty can down onto the kitchen counter. “You must be Y/N.”

“I am,” you tell him with a friendly smile, wishing you knew his name in return. 

“This is Holtzy,” Quinn tells you, nodding towards the man. 

“Alex,” he interjects with a smile. 

“Nice to meet you, Alex,” you tell him, watching as he grabs another drink from the fridge. “You play with Luke and Jack, right?” you ask, putting the pieces together. 

“Yeah, I do,” Alex replies, his smile widening. “They never let me come with them when they go to New York to see you.”

“What?” you laugh, shaking your head. “Why not?”

“They said you didn’t invite me.”

With a quiet scoff you roll your eyes. “Well you’re always invited, and if they say otherwise you can tell them to take it up with me,” you tell him.

“Oh, I will, I need a local to show me around New York.”

“Local might be a stretch,” you tell him with a giggle. “But I’ll show you around anytime.”

You watch Quinn step away from you, heading towards the patio door. “Guess we’re going back outside,” you say to Alex, glancing back at him. “You coming?”

Alex nods, following you back outside just a couple seconds after Quinn. Finding an empty seat beside Luke you settle in, joining into the conversation a few minutes later. The rest of the day slips by quickly, conversation flowing easily as you catch up with Quinn, Luke, and Jack and get to know the others that were there. By the time the sun had set there was a definite buzz in your body from the alcohol. Half of the group had piled inside to play a few games of pool, others already calling it a night and heading to bed. 

With everyone but you and Quinn gone from the patio the energy was different. Quieter, calmer. “I’ve missed you,” you say to Quinn, taking a sip of your drink. 

“I’ve missed you too,” Quinn echoes. “How’s New York been?”

You’re quiet for a few minutes, thinking through the last couple years of living in New York. “It’s been good,” you tell him with a shrug. “I mean moving there by myself…it’s a big city, it gets lonely sometimes, you know?”

“Yeah,” Quinn breathes out. “I get what you’re saying.”

“Lonely up there in Vancouver?”

Quinn shrugs, glancing out at the lake for a second. “It feels lonely when I go back after being with everyone down here. But it’s not bad, it’s not like I can really complain.”

“You can complain,” you assure him. “I’m not going to tell anyone that the twenty-three year millionaire professional athlete is complaining about living in a beautiful city in Canada.”

“See, I can’t-.”

“I’m joking, Quinn,” you interrupt, laughing as you stand up to walk over towards him. Sitting down on the couch next to Quinn you wrap your arm around his shoulder, leaning into his side. “I know you’re close with your family, I get it.”

“It’s not just them,” Quinn whispers. “I miss you a lot too, you know?”

Pulling back slightly you look into Quinn’s eyes, your heart hammering in your chest. “That’s good, because I miss you a lot too.”

You watch his cheeks redden, his eyes diverting away from you. Giggling you reach over, your hands cupping his cheeks as you turn his head to look you in the eyes again. “Look who’s blushing,” you tease. 

“You love this, don’t you?” Quinn asks, his hands wrapping around your wrists to pull your hands from his face. 

“Yes,” you giggle, leaning in to press your lips to his cheek. “I think you do too.”

Before Quinn has the chance to respond you hear the sliding glass door open and you pull away from Quinn, turning to look over at the door. 

“We’re going for a night swim,” Jack tells you, reaching down and grabbing your hands, tugging you up to your feet. “You coming?”

Your eyes fall to your hands, where Jack was still holding onto them. “I guess so,” you tell him with a breath of laughter. Turning around you look down at Quinn, nodding towards the lake. 

“Next time,” Quinn tells you. “I’m kinda tired, I’m going to head to bed, you know where my room is if you need anything tonight, okay?”

You part your lips, ready to try to argue for him to come with you before deciding against it. “Okay,” you finally say before heading down the back steps of the patio and down the dock. The water is illuminated by the moon in the clear sky and you peel off your t-shirt and shorts, tossing them onto the ground. 

Luke is the first one to get in the water, followed quickly by Max and Gavin. You were one of the last, hesitating around the edge of the dock when you feel a set of hands grasp at your arms. “No,” you shriek in surprise, not wanting to be pushed in. 

“Sorry,” Alex laughs, wrapping his arms around you and pulling you back a couple feet from the edge. “I wasn’t actually going to, I’m sorry.”

Your hands land on his forearm, giggling quietly. “It’s fine, you just scared me,” you breathe out. “Are you coming in?”

“Yeah,” Alex tells you, stepping back to pull his shirt off. Your eyes trail down over his body though it wasn’t as discreet as you had hoped, when your eyes meet with his again there’s a smirk on his face. “Like what you see?”

“Yes,” you reply quickly with a feigned confidence that you hoped would mask the embarrassment of being caught checking him out. Before he has the chance to say anything else you hop into the water, the cool temperature a shock to your system that is slow to dissipate. 

The night swim doesn’t last long. The cold water zaps the warm buzz in your body and forces you to climb out of the water and into the comfort of a well worn-in beach towel. After saying a round of goodnights to everyone still up you make your way to your designated guest room, changing into a pair of pyjamas and falling asleep far quicker than you had anticipated. 

When you wake up the next morning the house is quiet, the air is cool, everything feels serene in a way that you hadn’t felt anywhere else before. Tugging on a hoodie you leave your room, stepping quietly through the house in order to not wake anyone up. In the kitchen you pull open a few cupboards till you find some coffee, brewing a pot of coffee while scrolling on your phone. 

“Morning.”

Lifting your head you look over at Quinn, smiling softly. “Good morning,” you reply, shuffling over to pull him into a hug. “How’d you sleep?”

Quinn wraps his arms around you without hesitation, running his hand along your back. “Pretty good. How was the swim?”

“It was quick, I didn’t last long,” you tell him, receiving a chuckle from him in response. You never were one for long night swims. When you were younger it was primarily because the darkness of the water and stillness of the night would freak you out and no matter how much you tried to put your fears aside you would end up getting out long before everyone else. As you got older the fears subsided, being replaced by a distaste for the cold water in the cool evenings. You stay in Quinn’s arms till you hear the distinct hissing sound from the coffee pot telling you that the coffee had finished brewing. “Do you want some coffee?”

“Still don’t like it,” Quinn tells you. His eyes follow you around the kitchen as you find yourself a mug, pouring yourself a cup of the steaming liquid. “Want to sit outside?”

Setting the pot back into the maker you pick up your mug, following Quinn out onto the back patio. Settling into the corner of the patio couch you pull your legs up onto the couch, turning to face Quinn on the other end of the couch. “I wish I could just stay here forever.”

“You could,” Quinn tells you, reaching over and setting his hand on your leg. “I’m not going to tell you to leave.”

“But you wouldn’t be here and that’s at least seventy-five percent of the reason I like being out here.”

“What’s the other twenty-five?” 

“Probably like twenty percent the lake and five percent Luke and Jack,” you joke. 

Quinn chuckles, shaking his head. Of course you were joking, Jack and Luke were some of your closest friends, you grew up with them, they were like family. But there was definitely a bit of truth in the joke, your feelings for Quinn were different, you had accepted that long ago. “I knew I was the favourite.”

“Yeah? How’d you figure that out? Was it maybe when I told you that I had a crush on you?”

“I think you have a crush on everyone.” You want to think the comment is a joke, that it doesn’t mean anything. But you can’t ignore the way Quinn’s eyes fall towards the ground as he says it, the way his voice grows quieter. 

“That’s not true,” you insist, shuffling across the couch to sit next to him. “I’m serious, Quinn, I’ll kiss you right now.”

Quinn’s lips curl into a smile, shaking his head. “You’re so funny,” Quinn mutters with obvious sarcasm. 

“I’m not joking,” you exclaim, shifting onto your knees to fully face him, your hands cupping the sides of his face. “I will.”

“What’s stopping you?” Quinn’s eyes drop to your lips and you inhale a sharp breath, your heart racing in your chest. What was stopping you? The potential to ruin a lifelong friendship was definitely high up on that list. 

“I don’t know,” you whisper, leaning in a little closer. The moment felt like it had slowed down, every sensation in your body heightened. Before you have the chance to move any closer the sound of the door whipping open causes you to clamber back away from Quinn. 

“Shit, sorry, was I interrupting something?” Luke asks, but the smirk on his face tells you he isn’t really that sorry about it. 

“Nope,” you reply quickly, staring down at your hands to hide the way your cheeks had suddenly grew hot. 

“Are we still going out on the boat later?” Luke asks Quinn, the smirk not wiped from his face. 

“Yeah, whenever everyone gets up,” Quinn tells him, clearing his throat nervously. “I’ll um, I’ll go make sure everything is good to go,” he adds, hoping up from his seat, heading towards the dock without a moment of hesitation. 

“So, you are you two….you know?” Luke asks you as you get up to head inside with him. 

“No,” you tell him honestly. “Maybe if you hadn’t ruined it though,” you add with a playful whack to Luke’s arm. 

“Do it in your room next time then,” Luke replies as you head through the house towards your room. 

“Our rooms share a wall, are you sure about that?” 

Luke wrinkles his nose at your insinuation, pushing you towards the bedrooms. “Go get ready to go on the boat, I don’t want to think about this anymore.”

It doesn’t take you long to change into your bikini and a pair of shorts, grabbing a few things before making your way outside and down to the dock. 

Stepping onto the boat you set your bag down, taking a drink from the cooler before claiming your seat across from Quinn who was in the driver’s seat. After everyone settles in you head out into the middle of the lake, the sun high and hot in the sky. A round of rock-paper-scissors settles who got first dibs on water skiing. You spend the majority of the afternoon alternating between watching whoever was water skiing and talking with those who weren’t, though you had to admit you were giving most of your attention to Quinn. 

You had just finished watching Luke take his turn water skiing when Dalton steps in front of you, blocking the sun that you were comfortably warmed by. “Are you sure you don’t want to take a turn?”

“No,” you giggle, shaking your head. “I’m so bad at it, it’s embarrassing.”

“Come on, you can’t be that bad,” Dalton replies, a mischievous smirk on his face. 

“Yes, I am,” you assure him. “Now can you move? Your blocking my sun.”

“You’re already burnt, I’m doing you a favour.”

“I am not,” you exclaim with a giggle, pulling your sunglasses off to look at the skin on your arms. It’s tinged with a slight redness and you let out a quiet groan. “Well are you at least going to help me put more sunscreen on then?” you ask Dalton with a teasing smile. 

“I’ll help you put sunscreen on any time.”

Standing up you grab the bottle of sunscreen, handing it to him before turning around and pulling your hair over one shoulder. 

“Do I only get to do your back or can I help with the rest?” he jokes. 

“Don’t push your luck, Dalton,” you tease, flinching when the cold sunscreen hits your back. After he’s done with your back and shoulders you take the bottle back, continuing onto the rest of your body. When you lift your head your eyes meet with Quinn and before you have the chance to so much as smile he’s looking away, his expression cold and distant. Furrowing your eyebrows you try to figure out what had caused that reaction, flopping back down into your seat with a sigh. 

You stay out on the lake for another couple hours before heading back in, Quinn easily docking the boat. You gather your belongings, taking your empty cans with you as you head up from the dock to the house. Your skin was sticky with a mix of sweat and sunscreen, forcing you to head straight for the shower. The water is refreshing, as are the clean shorts and t-shirt you pull on after it. 

Back outside you find Quinn on the patio again, almost in the exact same spot you had been so close to kissing him just that morning. The air is still hot, the summer sun slowly beginning to dip lower over the horizon. Walking over you sit on the wicker arm of the patio chair he was in, resting your arm on the back behind him. “Do I have competition?” 

“Hmm?” Quinn hums, tipping his head back to look up at you, squinting against the sun. 

You nod towards his phone, still unlocked and in his hands. “Just seem pretty focused on your phone.”

Quinn shakes his head quickly, a breath of laughter escaping his lips. “Had to keep myself busy while you were in the shower.” 

“Could have come joined me,” you tell him with a playful smirk. Sliding from the arm of the chair you set yourself down onto Quinn’s lap, resting your head on his shoulder. 

“Stop,” Quinn groans, his cheeks growing redder by the second. You had to admit it, you liked how flustered you could make him. 

“If you insist.” Tugging your own phone out of your pocket you unlock it, heading to the app that consumed an ungodly amount of your free time. You scroll through the for you page on TikTok, enjoying the way Quinn’s chest would rumble with laughter underneath you. He would never admit that he enjoyed just sitting around watching TikTok with you but he didn’t need to say it for you to know it was true. 

Eventually talks of dinner disrupt your time with Quinn and you reluctantly pull yourself out of his lap to let him take the lead on dinner. You’re pretty sure someone else could have manned the barbecue but you take it as an opportunity to get off social media as well.

Wandering inside you find Dylan in the kitchen, chopping romaine lettuce with all the skill of a preschooler. “Do you need some help there?” you tease, resting your elbows onto the kitchen island and leaning down onto it. Your eyes move from the lettuce to his eyes, a playful smile on your lips. 

“Am I not doing a good enough job?” Dylan asks with an uncertain chuckle, looking down at the lettuce in front of him. 

“Well, I can’t say it’s the method I would use,” you tell him. 

“My skills are not in the kitchen,” Dylan confesses, setting the knife down next to the cutting board. “But I have plenty of skills.”

Standing up straighter you walk around to the other side of the island, pushing him a few steps away from the cutting board and picking up the knife. “Like what?” 

“Hockey,” Dylan replies quickly. 

“Yeah…you and everyone else here,” you tell him, tossing a handful of chopped lettuce in the salad spinner. “I mean, aside from myself.”

“Tough critic,” Dylan says with a laugh, leaning against the counter beside you. “Beer pong.”

“You and everyone else here…including myself,” you tease, turning your attention from the lettuce to look up at him. 

“I like that confidence,” Dylan says, walking to the fridge to pull something out of it. When he returns he sets the can next to you, a vodka soda. “You’re on my team if we play then.”

“Deal,” you say, picking up the can and opening it. “You sure know how to win me over.” You take a quick sip of the cold raspberry flavoured drink before getting back to work, getting the salad prepped. By the time you finish the salad and the drink Dylan got for you Quinn is back inside with a plate full of cooked steaks. 

His eyes shift back and forth between you and Dylan as he sets the plate down and for the first time you realized just how close you were standing to Dylan. “I’ll go tell everyone dinner is ready,” you say before quickly scurrying out of the room. When you return to the kitchen Quinn already has his dinner, sitting at the kitchen table with Dylan. Grabbing your own dinner you claim the spot beside Quinn before anyone else has the chance to. “Thank you,” you whisper to him, letting your hand fall onto his thigh under the table. 

“Of course,” Quinn mumbles and you swear his eyes shift down to your lips for a split second. But it’s so quick and you were already tipsy and perhaps you were reading things wrong.

After dinner you help clean the kitchen while a group sets up a table for beer pong, a suggestion made by none other than Dylan. He quickly claims you as his partner and you find yourself at his side again. You manage to hold your own through the game, sinking your ball in the last remaining cup on your opponents side. 

“Holy shit,” Dylan exclaims, wrapping his arms around your waist and lifting you up in a celebration. “You weren’t lying,” he adds as he sets you down, his hands lingering on your arms. 

“I’m in college, Dylan, of course I’m good at beer pong,” you tell him with a giggle. 

“Very impressive,” he says, handing you a ping pong ball for the next round of the game. 

You play a few more games before giving up your spot. Heading to the fridge you get yourself another drink, popping the can open and taking a large sip. When you turn around you nearly run into Quinn, jumping slightly. “Hi,” you breathe out. 

“Hey,” Quinn replies, his hand falling on your hip as he guides you away from the front of the fridge to get a drink for himself. “How many have you had?”

Rolling your eyes you shrug in response. “Does it matter?”

“Guess not,” Quinn mutters. You watch him take a step away, leaning back against the kitchen counter, his eyes focused on anything but you. 

You remain silent and still for a few minutes, your mind processing his sudden coldness towards you. You follow his eyes, watching the beer pong game with him for a few minutes. “Want to go outside with me?”

Quinn finally looks over at you, hesitating for a second before nodding in agreement. Weaving your way through the house you step outside with Quinn, the night air still warm, the sounds inside the house fading as Quinn pulls the door shut behind him. “Are you okay?”

“Hmm?” you hum, nodding a second later. “Yeah, yeah, I just wanted to spend some time with you.” Walking to the edge of the patio you lean against the railing, focusing on the gentle lapsing of the water against the shore. Quinn moves to stand beside you, resting his forearms on the railing beside you. “You’ve been quiet today.”

“Don’t have a lot to say, I guess,” Quinn mumbles. 

Sighing you lean over, nudging him gently. “Are you not having a good time?”

“I am.”

“Are you sure?” you ask, turning to face Quinn. 

“Yeah,” Quinn repeats, looking over at you, smiling softly. 

Reaching over you grab Quinn’s hand, pulling him away from the railing. “Come with me,” you say before guiding him to the stairs of the patio and down towards the lake. 

“What are we doing?” Quinn asks, hesitation clear in his voice. 

“Do you not trust me?” you ask, stopping just before the shore gives way to the lake water. 

The sky is clear and the night is illuminated by the moon and stars above you. It’s hard to make out the details around you but you can see the uncertainty on Quinn’s face. Giggling quietly you look out towards the water before turning your attention to Quinn. “We’re going to go swimming.”

“I’m wearing jeans,” Quinn tells you, shaking his head. 

“Take them off,” you suggest with a playful smile, your hands grasp the bottom hem of your t-shirt, tugging it over your head. Tossing the shirt onto the ground you stare over at Quinn, waiting for him to make the next move. 

You watch as he moves his hands to unbutton his jeans, kicking his shoes off before sliding them off his body. Quickly you shimmy out of your shorts, setting them with your shirt before reaching your hands around your back, unhooking your bra. 

“Oh, woah, I, uh, what are you, um, what are you doing?” Quinn stammers, looking up the yard towards the house. 

“Nobody’s watching, Quinn,” you whisper, slowly pulling your bra off, holding your arm over your bare chest as you drop the bra beside your clothes. 

Quinn’s chest is rising and falling a little quicker now, palpable hesitation in his movements as he takes off his shorts. Standing in silence he looks over at you, neither of you making the next move. “Are you going to keep going?” you finally whisper. 

Quinn pauses for a second before sliding his boxers off, his eyes locked with yours, watching to see if you’re going to let your eyes wander. You pull your own underwear off a second later, turning towards the water and stepping into it. The cool water lapses against your ankles and you let out a shaky breath. “It’s cold.”

“You’re the one that wanted to do this,” Quinn reminds you, taking your hand and pulling you along with him further into the water. You skin is covered in goosebumps, each step into the lake cooling your body further and further. 

“Fuck,” you whisper as the water reaches your chest, your nipples hardening. “I’ll go under if you do.”

“Deal,” Quinn chuckles, letting go of your hand as he dips lower into the water. 

“You first,” you say, hugging your arms tight around your body. 

“No way,” Quinn exclaims. “You’re not going to do it.”

“Yes, I will,” you retort, though you can’t stop yourself from smiling, a tell tale sign that you were lying. “Fine,” you huff. “On the count of three.”

You count down to three, ducking under the water and resurfacing as quickly as you could. Reaching your hands back you push your hair back behind your ears, giggling as you look over at Quinn. His eyes fall to your now exposed chest and you can feel your heartbeat speeding up. “Sorry,” he mutters when he realizes that you had noticed. 

Reaching over you take Quinn’s hands, pulling him closer. “I don’t mind,” you whisper, glancing down to his lips. 

Laughter catches your attention, looking up towards the shore, a few people now standing on the patio. “Shit,” you whisper, looking back to Quinn. 

“I’ll go get us some towels, just stay here,” Quinn says, swimming back towards the shore as you pull your arms up in front of you again. 

When he gets closer to the shore the sound of his body moving through the water catches the attention of the guys on the patio. “What are you-,” Jack begins to ask, his voice shifting to laughter as he spots you. The laughter mixes with teasing whoops coming from the three on the patio as Quinn pulls on his shorts and heads towards the house. 

He returns with a couple towels, opening one up for you as you hurry towards him. When you get closer he wraps the towel around your body, holding it up till you had it secured around you. “Thank you,” you whisper, staring up at him. Your skin is covered in goosebumps again, droplets of water slipping down your bare arms. “They’re watching,” you add a moment later, as Quinn begins to lean in closer. 

“Right, yeah, um, we should head in,” Quinn mutters, stepping back and gathering the clothes from the ground while you head for the patio. 

“Invite me next time, hey?” Max comments when you get closer, his words drawn out and cloaked in a drunk tone. 

“Alright, that’s enough,” Jack mutters to him, elbowing him to get his attention, shaking his head to let him know he was serious. 

Your cheeks are hot as you scurry by and up to your room as quickly as you could. You hadn’t thought this part of it through, feeling so exposed as you hurried through the house full of people in nothing more than a thin beach towel. With the bedroom door closed behind you you’re able to let out a breath that you didn’t realize you were holding, changing into a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt, your skin still cold to the touch from the lake. 

Laying down on the bed you find your phone, no longer in much of a partying mood. A few minutes later there’s a quiet knock on the door and you sit up, looking towards the door. “Yeah?”

“You okay?” Quinn calls through the closed bedroom door, making you laugh softly. Of course he wouldn’t barge in, though he had just seen you naked so it felt unnecessary to be so concerned about your privacy. 

Standing up you walk over to the door, pulling it open and leaning against the doorframe in front of Quinn. “I’m okay,” you assure him. “A little cold.”

“Should I remind you again that it was your idea?” Quinn asks with a smirk. “Are you coming back down?”

“I don’t know, I think I might call it a night,” you say with a shrug. 

“Do you want to do something else? We could just watch a movie or something.”

“Yeah, sure.” Pushing the door open further you step out of your room, following Quinn down the hall to his bedroom. Crawling onto the bed you turn your attention to the TV as Quinn flips through the menu to get to Netflix. Pulling the blankets back you slide underneath them in an attempt to warm yourself up. 

“You’re going to fall asleep,” Quinn says, sitting on the edge of the bed as he scrolls through the movies available on Netflix. 

“I am not.” 

“Okay,” Quinn replies, though it’s clear that he doesn’t believe you.  

After deciding on a comedy Quinn lays down next to you, his arm around your back as you lay your head on his chest. Quinn wasn’t wrong about you falling asleep, your eyes feeling heavy for awhile before you drift to sleep, long before the end of the movie. 

When you wake up again it’s the next morning and you’re in almost the same spot you fell asleep the night before. Your arm is slung over Quinn’s torso, his chest rising and falling beneath your head with each heavy breath. Slowly you pull yourself away from him, careful not to wake him as you slip out of the bed and leave his room. You mind is hazy, racing with thoughts of the night before. How badly you wished you and Quinn had just a few more minutes alone in the lake. But maybe it was for the best. Ruining your friendship in one drunk night might not have been your best move. 

You spend most of the morning alone in the living room, watching tv till everyone begins pulling themselves out of bed. “So, how was your night?” Jack asks, flopping onto the couch beside you, a teasing smirk on his face. 

Rolling your eyes you shrug in response, glancing into the kitchen where Quinn was chatting with Luke and Dylan. “It was fine.”

“Oof,” Jack replies with a chuckle. “Just fine? That’s gotta hurt Quinny’s ego.”

“We didn’t hook up, Jack,” you mutter, staring at your hands as you twist a ring around your index finger. 

“Really? I thought when you guys were-,” he begins before shaking his head.

“No,” you whisper. Dropping your legs from where you had them pulled up in front of you onto the floor you pull yourself to your feet. “I’m going to go outside for a bit.”

“Are you okay?” Jack calls as you walk towards the back door. You nod in response but you don’t say anything more. 

You walk outside and keep going till you’re at the end of the dock, dropping down and dangling your legs over the edge of it. The sky was gloomy, the day overcast. Sighing to yourself you lean back on your arms, watching the ripples on the surface lake for awhile. 

“You look kind of sad out here by yourself.”

Looking over your shoulder you smile at Alex as he walks up the dock, lowering himself down beside you. “I’m not.”

“You sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure,” you tell him, laughing quietly. “Just thinking.”

“About?”

“Things,” you reply, looking down at the water. 

“Mysterious,” Alex says with a chuckle. 

“Oh yeah, I have tons of secrets.”

“Tell me one.”

Turning your head you look over at Alex, smiling playfully. “Well then it wouldn’t a secret, would it?”

“Fine, tell me something about yourself that isn’t a secret.”

“What do you want to know?”

“What are you taking in university?

“I’m majoring in psychology,” you tell him. “Minoring in dance.”

“Dance?” Alex asks, surprise clear in his voice. 

“Do I not look like I know how to dance?”

Alex hesitates for a second, his eyebrows furrowing. “No, no, that’s not what I meant. It’s cool, I just didn’t know people did that.”

“Danced?” you tease. 

“Well I don’t,” Alex defends. 

Pulling your legs up you hop to your feet, reaching your hand down towards him. “Get up.”

“Why?” Alex asks, drawing the word out. 

“Because you’re going to dance.” Taking your phone from your pocket you put on some music while you wait for Alex to get up. 

“I really don’t know how to dance.”

“Lucky for you I’m a pretty good teacher,” you tell him, reaching over and taking his hand. Pulling him closer you place one of his hands on your waist, grabbing the other one and holding it up. You walk him through a basic box step, barely able to contain your laughter as he messes up time and time again. Eventually he gets it down, at least close enough that it looks like you’re actually dancing. “See, you can dance,” you tell him. 

“Do you think I could get a minor in dance?” he jokes, lifting his arm up and spinning you around. 

“Well that was pretty impressive, so maybe,” you tell him with a giggle. “Want to head back? You can show everyone your new skills,” you tease. 

“No way I’m dancing for those guys.” Following you back down the dock you walk inside with Alex, everyone hanging around the kitchen table, cards in hand. 

Walking over you stop behind Quinn, sliding your arms down from his shoulder to his chest, leaning down to look at the cards in his hand. “What are you playing?” you whisper.

“President,” Quinn mutters. “You’ve never played before.”

“How do you know?” 

“Because you told me you only ever play cards when you’re here and I’ve never played with you,” Quinn replies cooly. 

“Alright,” you mutter, realizing he wasn’t about to explain it to you either. Sighing you pull back, walking into the living room to take your spot on the couch again. Had you really read the situation between you and Quinn that poorly that even what happened last night was an overstep?

By the time dinner is being made the drinks have started flowing again, the kitchen loud with laughter as dinner is haphazardly thrown together. You keep to yourself for most of the evening, suddenly feeling out of place. It was the first time you had ever felt uncomfortable at the lake house, the place that had always been a safe haven for you. 

“Are you going to be a loser and sit by yourself all night or are you going to come hang out?” Luke asks, hovering in the doorway of the living room. 

Reaching over you grasp a pillow tossing it at him. “Don’t be a dick,” you mutter, watching him easily catch the pillow, tossing it back onto the couch. 

“Sorry, I was joking,” Luke replies, raising his hands defensively. “What’s going on with you?”

“Nothing.” Pulling your legs up onto the couch you wrap your arms around your knees, leaning your head on them. “It’s just…Quinn.”

“What did he do?”

“Nothing,” you whisper. “It doesn’t matter, Luke, just go back and hangout with everyone else.”

Luke sighs loudly, walking into the room and dropping onto the other end of the couch. “You know I’m not going to just leave you. Tell me what he did, I’ll beat him up.” You can’t help but laugh at the comment, turning your head to smile at Luke. “You know I could.”

“I know,” you reply, giggling quietly. “Come on,” you say, standing up and nodding for Luke to follow you. You weren’t about to let him sulk with you just because he didn’t want to leave you alone. Leaving the living room you head back into the kitchen, getting yourself a drink before stepping onto the back patio where everyone had moved to. Finding a seat you do your best to stay engaged with the conversation but you can’t stop yourself from sneaking glances at Quinn every chance you could. 

The sky is completely dark before you know it but you’re still not able to shake the sinking feeling you have about Quinn. When you see him stand up you watch him go inside you take the chance to talk to him alone and hop to your feet. Inside you close the door behind you, walking towards the kitchen. 

“Quinn,” you whisper, stopping in the doorway to the kitchen as you watch him slam back the contents of his cup. “Can we talk?”

“About?” Quinn mutters coldly, pulling the door of the fridge open before yanking out a bottle of beer. 

“I, um, I just,” you stammer, watching him pop the lid of the bottle off. “Did I do something wrong? I just feel like you’re upset about something or upset with me or, I don’t know, I just-.”

“Just don’t like when you can’t have the attention of every guy around?” Quinn mutters, his words slurred. 

Your eyes widen, a shaky breath leaving your lungs. “What?” 

“Don’t like hearing the truth?” 

“What are you talking about, Quinn?” you exclaim, folding your arms across your chest, your fingers digging into your arms. 

“I’m talking about you fucking flirting with everyone…then you tell me you have feelings for me but that’s obviously bullshit. Especially after last night, like what the fuck, Y/N? I’m done with this…with you.” 

You can feel your eyes prickling with tears, your heart racing. Quinn had never spoken to you in that way before. Never in a million years would you have expected Quinn to speak to you that way. “I-,” you begin, though you weren’t even sure what you were planning to say. Reaching up you wipe away a couple tears that had pooled under your eyes. “I wasn’t…it wasn’t like that Quinn, I wasn’t flirting with everyone-.”

“You were,” Quinn interrupts.

“Stop,” you breathe out, shaking your head. “Please, Quinn, please just listen to me,” you plead. Your breath was catching in your throat, desperately trying to hold back your tears. “I really like you Quinn, I’ve had feelings for you since I was twelve, I love you Quinn…I’m in love with you.”

“Yeah?” Quinn mutters coldly. “Seems like if that was true you wouldn’t be flirting with other people right in front of my fucking face.”

“Please,” you whisper, tears streaming down your cheeks. “I’m sorry, it never meant anything, I didn’t think it was a problem, I-.”

“Maybe you should have thought about someone other than yourself then,” Quinn snaps. 

“Why are you being so mean?” you croak, choking back a sob. 

You watch his expression soften, a silence falling between the two of you that feels tense and uncomfortable. You swallow heavily, waiting for him to say something, anything. But he doesn’t. You stand there, silent and still as Quinn turns around and walks out of the room. With your vision still blurry with tears you walk in the opposite direction, opening the front door and sitting down on the steps to the front of the house. It’s quieter on this side, the night air drying the tears on your cheeks as you stare up at the clear sky now full of bright stars. 

You don’t know how long you’re sitting there, but it was long enough that the sound of the door opening behind you startles you. Turning your head you look up at the figure behind you. 

“Oh, hey,” Alex says, car keys jingling in his hands as he closes the front door behind him. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” you reply quickly, wiping away the few tears left on your face. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

Alex hesitates for a second before taking a step down the stairs and lowering himself down beside you. “You sure?”

Sniffling quietly all you can manage to do is nod, staring straight ahead of you into the dark driveway. Alex slides his arm around your shoulders, clearly not believing your terrible lie. Tipping your head to the side you rest your head on his shoulder, allowing yourself to take in the comfort he was offering. “I’m going to go home tomorrow,” you finally whisper. 

Alex squeezes your shoulder gently, waiting a couple seconds for you to continue. “Why?” 

“It’s not a big deal,” you tell him, which was another lie and you’re fairly sure that Alex knew that. “Quinn and I, we, um, we just got into a…a disagreement, I guess.”

Alex nods slowly, running his hand along your arm gently. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not really,” you admit. “You don’t have to sit out here with me moping either, I don’t want to ruin your trip.”

“You’re not ruining anything,” Alex assures. “I’m leaving tomorrow so I wasn’t planning on being up late tonight anyway.”

“Did you get into a fight with Quinn too?” 

Alex laughs, shaking his head. “No, I came a bit earlier with Luke and Jack so I was planning to head out early too.”

“Exciting things happening in Newark that you can’t miss?” 

“Maybe not Newark but New York is pretty close and if you’re going to be there then there’s definitely exciting things I wouldn’t want to miss.”

“Are you flirting with me, Alex?” you ask, lifting your head from his shoulder to look into his eyes. 

“I have been all week…took you long enough to notice,” Alex informs you with a soft smile. 

Your breath catches in your throat, your eyes focusing on his. You were used to casual flirting, flirting when it didn’t mean anything, when it was fine if it went unnoticed. Something in this moment felt different. “Sorry I didn’t, um, I don’t know…I’m not actually good at…this.”

“At what?” Alex asks, eyebrows furrowed. 

“Flirting,” you whisper. 

“No, I think you’re pretty good at that,” Alex says. His laugh afterward lets you know it wasn’t a serious comment but it still felt like a slap in the face. 

Nodding slowly you do your best to discreetly wipe away the tears that had pooled in your eyes again. “Yeah,” you whisper, staring at the night sky. “I guess not the flirting…the feelings part of it.”

“That’s okay,” Alex assures you with a shrug. “That part’s not as easy.”

“You can say that again,” you whisper. 

“That part’s not as easy.”

Turning your head you look over at Alex, taking in his playful smile. You can’t help but laugh at the joke, shaking your head. “So, you wanted a local to show you around New York?”

“Yeah, I do.”

“How about Wednesday?”

“Wednesday would be great.”

A few days later Alex had made the trip from Newark to New York, exactly as you had agreed. After meeting him at your apartment the two of you grab a coffee before heading on a walk. Snapping a quick picture of Alex, walking down the road with an iced coffee in his hand, you post it to your Instagram story, captioning it in your typical humorous style. ‘He wanted the local experience…first stop is to see the subway rats, any other suggestions?’.

You spend the rest of the day together, showing Alex around the city and getting to know each other in a way that you didn’t have the opportunity to at the lake house. After spending the day out and about you ended the evening with take out and a couple bottles of wine at your apartment. 

“This is where you live?” Alex teases as he sets the takeout you two had picked up on the counter in the small kitchen. 

“Don’t be mean,” you laugh, opening the kitchen drawer to find a wine opener for the bottle you had bought. “It’s so expensive to live here and it’s just me so I don’t really need a lot of space anyway.”

“I’m just joking, it’s cute,” Alex tells you, watching you pour a couple glasses of wine, taking one as you hand it to him. 

“Cute,” you repeat, taking a sip of the wine. “You’re just saying it’s small in a nicer way.”

“Well I can’t lie to you, it is small.”

“At least you know that I don’t think size matters,” you tell him with a playful smile. 

Alex’s eyes widen, his eyes falling to your lips for a second before a nervous breath of laughter escapes his lips. “I, uh…do you think that’s something I’m worried about?”

Giggling you take another sip of your wine, letting your eyes trail up and down his body, as if you were really pondering the thought. “There really is only one way to find out, Alex.”

Alex exhales loudly, his hand clamping around his glass of wine as he takes a large gulp of the cool white wine. “Are we at least going to have dinner first?”

“Fuel up,” you tease, pulling his meal out of the bag and setting it down on the kitchen island. Walking around to the other side you slide onto the barstool, taking your own food. 

You make small talk through dinner, but it never for a moment feels forced or unnatural. You talked about his life growing up in Sweden, about his family and his friends. You talked about school, about what your plans were in the future. You talked till the bottles of wine were empty and the clock was nearing midnight. 

“I should probably get an Uber or something,” Alex says, picking his phone up from the coffee table. 

"You can stay here, that’s quite a long Uber ride,” you offer. “The couch is pretty comfortable, or so I’ve heard.”

“I don’t want to get in the way.”

“You wouldn’t be,” you insist, standing up and taking the empty wine glasses to the kitchen. “I’ll grab you some blankets and stuff.”

“Thank you.”

After gathering some blankets and pillows you head to bed yourself. Alex spends the night and much of the next day at your place. He’s back in New York a few days later, coming to karaoke night with your friends. A week later you spend the day in Newark with Jack, Luke and Alex. When the season started you were in Newark for most of the Devils home games, cheering on not just Jack and Luke but Alex as well now. 

“What’s going on with you and Holtzy?” Jack asks, sitting across his living room from you. You had spent the night in Newark after going out for some drinks with them after a game one night in early October. 

Looking up from your phone you shrug in response. “I don’t know…nothing.”

“You two aren’t together or whatever?”

“No, I mean, I…we’re…I don’t know what we are,” you stammer. “Why?”

Jack groans and tips his head back, staring at the ceiling. “Quinn was asking.”

You’re silent for a few minutes, nervously fiddling with a loose thread on your sweater. “How is he?” you whisper. You hadn’t gone this long without talking to Quinn for as long as you’ve had a cellphone. You wanted to, you wanted to talk to him, but after the way you left things at the lake house you didn’t know if you should reach out. 

Jack glances around the room, lips parting as begins to say something before stopping himself. “He’s fine.”

“Okay,” you whisper, your eyes prickling with tears. You weren’t sure where the emotions were coming from. You had been upset about the situation, sure. But you hadn’t expected that hearing he was doing fine without you would hurt so much. “That’s good,” you croak. 

“Oh my god,” Jack groans, noticing your tears. “He’s not,” he admits. “I don’t think he’d want me to tell you that but this thing with you and Alex…he’s not happy about it.”

“Well he’s done with me, so I don’t know why he would even care,” you mumble under your breath. 

“Jesus,” Jack breathes out, shaking his head. “What are you talking about? What happened that night in Michigan?” 

“He, um, he made it clear that he didn’t like my behaviour and he’s done with me,” you say quietly, swallowing heavily as a few tears slip from your eyes. 

“He’s not done with you.” Jack stands up and closes the distance between you and him, sitting down and wrapping his arms around you. “Why don’t you call him tonight?”

Sighing you rest your head on Jack’s shoulder, not agreeing to call him but not saying no either. Maybe it was what you needed. At least then you could have an answer, if you and Quinn were ever going to be friends again you knew you needed to talk about it. 

You head home that evening, sitting in your apartment and staring at the black screen of your turned off tv. You didn’t need to put anything on, your mind was doing enough to keep you preoccupied. Eventually you reach over, picking up your phone and finding Quinn’s contact. Hesitantly you dial his number, lifting your phone to your ear as you listen to the dial tone. 

“Hello?” 

Your heart hammers heavily in your chest at the sound of his voice, a shaky inhale filling your lungs. “Hi,” you whisper. “Do you have time to talk?”

#quinn hughes #quinn hughes fic #quinn hughes x reader #quinn hughes imagine #nhl imagines #nhl fanfic #nhl fanfiction #nhl one shot #nhl fic #hockey fanfic #hockey fic

[luvhughes43]

ice cream? | dad!quinn hughes

luvhughes43 masterlist🌙

request: can you write another one like your uncle jack story? i loveddd it!! maybe jack and luke are babysitting quinn’s daughter. i feel like they’d mac and cheese for dinner and both completely struggle doing it. and when it’s bedtime the toddler has a tantrum and they so gentle with her (but also kinda freaking out and don’t know what to do) and end up giving her ice cream and letting her watch a movie with them and she falls asleep on one of them. and quinn and mom come home like really guys?! you let a three year old tell you what to do 

word count: 1.2k

“What are you doing? you don't put the tinfoil bit in the microwave?!” Jack scolded his younger brother Luke as he yanked open the microwave before it set itself on fire. 

Luke stood dumbfounded, “how else are you supposed to cook it?”

the “it” in question being a mini cup of mac and cheese. Quinn thought it would be the safest dinner option and yet…

“Okay, let me do this you go entertain the baby” Jack shoos Luke away and towards an adorable toddler who smiled gummily up at her uncles. 

Luke scoops the little girl up, who giggles all the way to the couch. Luke plops them both down and reaches for the tv remote. 

“Shit!” Jack swears as he rips the microwave open. “Luke! You put in too much water!” 

Luke clicks the volume up on the tv. “You like paw patrol! Yeah, let's watch paw patrol!” Luke cheers to his niece who continues to giggle at her uncle's antics. 

“Doggy!” the little girl shouts as she points at the screen. Luke nods enthusiastically as he tunes out Jack's grumblings from the kitchen. 

15 minutes later, dinner was served.

Luke picked at his plate, “dude…”

“if you say that this is gross i swear…” Jack cut in. 

Before a small fight could break out, both brothers' attention were brought to the little girl in the high chair. “Yummy!” she smiled, lifting up her little plastic spoon and shovelling more of the questionable mac and cheese into her mouth. 

“ha! She likes it!”

“Jack… she's 2.. She was eating canned mashed peas like a month ago,” Luke replies.

Jack scowls. “It's literally your fault that the mac and cheese-”

“Play now!” their niece once again recaptures their attention as she shows them her empty plate. 

Jack gets up from the table and takes his niece out of her high chair.

After an hour of playing, the brothers get a text. 

hughes bros👨‍👨‍👦

quinn: Put my baby to bed now it's getting late. If she gets a little fussy read her another bedtime story she usually falls asleep after two stories. 

“your daddy says it's bedtime!” Jack coos to the little girl sitting in front of him and she immediately starts pouting. 

She throws the bright red block she's holding and yells, “no!”

“Luke, you wanna put her to bed?” Jack asks as he watches the toddler throw a small tantrum. She was rolling around on the floor now, toys long forgotten. 

“No sleep! No sleep!” she repeated, looking up at her uncles with her infamous puppy dog eyes. 

Luke walks over and picks her up off the floor. “Why don't we go read a story! That's so much fun!” Luke exclaims happily and the little girl in his arms continues to frown. 

“yeah let's read a story!” Jack cheers in an attempt to get the young girl to stop pouting. “I love stories!” 

“No!” she shouts again. 

Luke ignores her shouts, and carries her into her bedroom where she continues to pout. “Uncle Jacks going to pick out a really fun book while I get you ready for bed, okay?” 

“No!” 

After 20 minutes of fighting with the young girl, she was finally all ready for bed. As soon as she was in her crib, she immediately settled down and was happy to hear her story. She insisted on both of her uncles reading to her, and by the time they were done the first story she had already drifted off to sleep.

Jack and Luke sat in the living room, both on their phones as they waited for their brother and his wife to return.

“Wow this has been really easy!” Luke joked.

Jack looked over, rolling his eyes. “You almost burnt down the apartment” 

“Yeah but the baby's asleep now so does it really matter?” 

Jack shakes his head, “i’m not even going to reply to that”

“‘ACK! ‘UKE!” the wails of their niece ring out through the quiet apartment.

Both boys look at each other, and then immediately rush into their niece's bedroom. “What's up?” Jack coos, voice soft as he approaches the little girl with tears streaming down her face.

The little girl continues to cry. She stands up by the edge of the crib and holds her arms out to her uncles. Luke takes the hint and lifts the girl out of her crib and into his arms. 

“No sleep” she whispers against her uncle Luke's chest and both boys stare blankly at each other.

“But you have to go to sleep,” Luke tries, but the girl shakes her head. 

“No!” she cries. 

The cries only get worse, so Jack has the brilliant idea of feeding the girl some ice cream.

“Two year olds can have ice cream right?” he asks as he pulls the large tub out of his older brother's freezer. 

Luke nods, “yeah i'm sure vanilias safe for kids”  he shrugs the shoulder that his niece is not laying against. 

“You want some ice cream?” Jack asks as he holds a baby spoon up with a tiny bit of ice cream. The girl eagerly nods and reaches one hand out for the spoon.

The boys move to the couch, the little girl sat between them with her little bowl of ice cream in her lap. A movie softly plays in the background, lulling the girl to sleep with her hand in her ice cream bowl and head pressed against her uncle jack. 

At the sound of the front door unlocking, both boys sit upright. “Shit! Don't wake her up!” Luke whisper-shouts as he stands up and starts clearing off the coffee table. There was ice cream everywhere, courtesy of the sleeping 2 year old clinging to Jack's side. 

“Take her bowl!” Jack whispers as he tries to lift the baby's hand out of the sticky bowl. 

“You gave my daughter ice cream before bed?” Quinn questions, surveying the messy kitchen and living room. 

Luke, hands full of the incriminating ice cream bowls, shrugs. “She’s teething?” he says, but it comes out more of a question.

“My baby's teething? Are her molars coming through?” your worried voice drifts through the apartment as you step inside. 

“No!”

“Yes!” 

Jack and Luke both speak at the same time. 

“Right… okay i’ll take my baby back now!” Quinn speaks. When he reaches down to lift his daughter up though, he sees her ice cream coated hands. Quinn doesn't have to say anything.

“Right well! This was really nice so…"Jack trails off when Quinn finally has his daughter in his arms. She was asleep, so what did it really matter if she had some ice cream? 

“Yeah! I’ll see you next time!” Luke says, retreating into the guest bedroom. 

“Yeah, what he said! It's been great!” Jack mimics Luke.

“You're cleaning this up tomorrow,” Quinn's voice is fully in dad mode as he looks around the messy room. 

Jack nods enthusiastically before bidding the small family his goodnights. 

“Thank you for babysitting!” you whisper yell, which Jack responds with a quick thumbs up. 

A second later the guest bedroom door is clicked shut and Quinn and you are left standing in your quiet living room. 

“They're never babysitting again” Quinn sighs, looking down at his daughter who was covered in ice cream. 

“No, they're not” you sigh, leaning over and pressing a soft kiss to your daughter's forehead. “Letting a 2 year old tell them what to do… you got those boys wrapped around your finger!” you whisper to your little girl.

#dad!quinn hughes #quinn hughes x reader #quinn hughes blurb #quinn hughes fic #quinn hughes imagine #jack hughes x reader #jack hughes imagine #jack hughes blurb #jack hughes one shot #luke hughes x reader #luke hughes blurb #luke hughes imagine #luke hughes fic #nhl fanfiction #nhl imagine #nhl blurb #nhl fic

[sweetestdesire]

A VIEW TO REMEMBER

WARNINGS: hair pulling, extreme domination, mentions of masturbation, degrading speech, etc. 18+ readers only

PAIRING(S): Quinn Hughes x Fem!Reader

SUMMARY: in which Quinn Hughes accidentally walks in on Fem!Reader during a private moment.

Y/N knew love was a lot less feelings and a lot more work. She wasn’t foolish enough to think feelings were enough to make things work out, and she wasn’t naive enough to think Quinn was any different. And sure, Quinn walked around with the sun under his feet, and he smiled with stars in his eyes, and his laugh sent tidal waves to her heart, but those were all things she knew wouldn’t make him any easier to love.

She watched her parents for far too long to know love was a blanketed title people used for feelings they couldn’t voice, but how was it love if she slept in an empty bed waiting for the other to return? How was it love if dinners were quiet to avoid arguments at all costs? How was it love if touches were rigid and just for show? Y/N wasn’t a fool, and she knew that she wanted Quinn, and she knew he made the world still and the background noises quiet, but those were all feelings that she knew would never quite be enough.

Y/N didn’t know how to love, and neither did her parents, and neither did their parents, and Quinn deserved better than that. So she thought that best friend was a great title. The best, even. It was as good as it was going to get, and it was perhaps a lucky enough gift from the universe she even scored that title in the first place.

But Y/N craved something deeper, something closer, something more intimate. She wanted to feel him in ways no one has, see him in ways no one will, have him in ways only she could. She liked the idea of feeling his touch in a gentle drag across her skin, warm and sweet and trickling with honeyed words against the shell of her ear, but she knew she couldn’t exactly live it out in a reality. So she imagined it, let herself feel the ghost of Quinn’s touch, allowed herself to hear the phantom of her voice in the deepest parts of her imagination.

Like now, for example, as Y/N fell back onto the couch after Quinn had left their apartment, she let out a quiet moan as her hand rubbed over the wet spot on her yoga pants. She shuddered, feeling the heat building up between her legs as she imagined Quinn’s hand replacing hers, and she whined when she let herself tug her shirt up, playing with her own nipples and pinching them between her fingers.

Through half closed eyes, Y/N laid back on the cushion and settled both hands between her legs, lightly resting the edges of her fingers along the lips of her pussy and clit. It felt good, but it would probably feel better if Quinn was the one touching her.

“Oh, God.” Y/N breathed, sweaty hair sticking to her forehead as she dragged her fingers over her pussy, aching with the need for release. And then she had a sudden thought intruding her mind, one where Quinn might just press a delicate kiss between her thighs, and she groaned before reaching to rub her clit with her free hand. “Like that, Quinn. Don’t stop.” She pleaded, like he was there to listen.

Y/N whined, rubbing her pussy faster now, the squelching noise filling the room. Her hips bucked into her fingers to chase the friction, and she wondered if her hand would come to press down and keep her in place.

“Feels so good, baby. God, you feel so good.” She groaned, calling out Quinn’s name as she imagined it was his hand instead of hers, as she imagined it was Quinn she was speaking to and not an empty room, as she imagined it was him watching her with lust hazed eyes and want in his blood. “Gonna make me cum.” She moaned. “Gonna cum for you.”

“Y/N? Oh, my God.” Quinn said, and this time it wasn’t in her imagination.

Y/N’s eyes widen as she sat up, cursing to herself while her face turned a deep shade of crimson. And she was horrified, really, because she was sure Quinn had heard her moan his name, she was sure he saw her rub her pussy, she was sure Quinn had gathered by now that she was thinking of him in the filthiest way possible.

Her throat closed and his heart raced, and she thought there might just be a pinprick of tears in her eyes from the dread and the humiliation. "Quinn, get out. Just close your eyes and stay there. Shit, just go.” She scrambled to yank down her top and clamped her legs together, throwing the remote at him as a distraction while she sprinted from the living room.

Embarrassment swept over her again at the memory and she wondered for about the hundredth time whether she'd ever get over it. Y/N sipped from her can of Pepsi and stirred the brown rice bubbling in the pot on the stove. It was already after seven. Quinn would be home any minute now.

Her exhibitionist moment had become that elephant in the room no one dared speak about, but it was only a matter of time before he cracked and brought up the subject. Since returning from his roadie three days ago, the amused glances he kept sending her way confirmed her hunch; the only reason Quinn held back from talking about it was because it made her uncomfortable. This whole situation had become far too entertaining — for him, at least.

Y/N heard the front door open and close. Quinn usually headed down the hall to change in his bedroom before he came looking for her. She took the pot of rice over to the island bench to drain while she waited for him to appear. Moments later he entered the kitchen, sending her a grin while he strolled across the tiled floor barefoot. She knew, she just knew every time he looked at her now he pictured that scene all over again.

"Hey, Y/N/N.” Quinn said. He wore black athletic shorts and a pain t-shirt that revealed his muscled arms.

"Hi." Y/N smiled and met his eyes briefly. "Dinner's almost ready if you’d want to set the table."

When they were both sitting in the dining room beside the floor-to-ceiling window that showcased the twinkling lights of the city, Y/N speared a piece of chicken and shoved it into her mouth. She chewed and swallowed, then quickly replaced it with another to avoid having to talk to him.

She wished things could return to normal between them, that they could go back to sharing their flirty banter and having fun together. They'd clicked from the moment they met. Now it was just awkward and the fault lay entirely with her, Quinn hadn't changed a bit. Her eyes remained directed at her plate, and was only when Quinn let out a snort of amusement that she raised her head.

"It's natural, you know.” He said. His gaze roamed her face, taking everything in. "To want to do it, I mean. Everyone does it."

Y/N closed her eyes. "I don't want to talk about it, Quinn."

"I know."

She opened her eyes and forced herself to look at him. "Then why are you bringing it up?"

"We need to talk about it." Quinn balanced his fork on the edge of his plate. "This is serious. The tension around here's putting me off my food."

Although it didn't help at all, she still appreciated his attempt to bring humor into the conversation. "Can't we just pretend it never happened?" She said.

"Y/N, it did happen and it's not a big deal. You're just turning it into one."

Her eyes widened. "That's easy for you to say. How would you feel if I walked in on you... pleasuring yourself?"

"I don't know because it's never happened to me. I always go somewhere private to pleasure myself." She heard the humor in his tone. "I've never set up camp on the couch before and just gone for it."

Oh, my God. If the humiliation at hearing his words wasn't enough now she had the image of him all aroused to contend with, too. Y/N pushed her plate away and leaned her forehead against the table. "I'm just going to bang my head here until I knock myself out, okay?"

"C'mon." Quinn’s patient amusement only made the situation that much worse. Why couldn't she be the mature one here?

Chair legs scraped against tile then his hand wrapped around her upper arm. Quinn tugged her reluctantly into a standing position. Knowing he wanted to talk about it rather than eat his dinner made her realize just how determined he was to fix this problem. Y/N tilted her head to stare up at him, blown away by the jolt of awareness she experienced whenever she looked into his eyes.

"Why does it bother you so much?" Quinn asked. His eyebrows pulled together as he studied her.

"Is it really that hard to understand? You saw me with my hand in my panties, Quinn. You saw my boobs, too." She turned her head and stared out the window, wishing she could be anywhere other than here with him talking about the first place holder on her list of embarrassing moments.

"One boob.” He corrected. "A very, very nice one."

Her eyes flicked back to his to check whether he was making fun of her, but his compliment appeared to be sincere. "Thank you.” She said.

"No, thank you."

A reluctant smile appeared. Y/N should have talked about it with him when it actually happened instead of leaving it to him to address the issue. It would have been a lot simpler. "It just feels like I'm at a disadvantage. You saw me during a private moment. I can tell you still think it's funny. I don't like you having that over me."

His mouth turned up at one corner. "You want me to jerk off in front of you to make things even?"

Y/N’s stomach fluttered at the thought. She knew he was joking to lighten the mood, but when she opened her mouth to speak the word that wanted to come out was yes. "Well.” She sent him a tentative smile.

Quinn let out a laughing breath. "I can't believe it. You actually want me to jerk off in front of you."

Now that he'd brought up the idea, Y/N kept her eyes on him and her mouth shut, waiting him out. She refused to get herself in any deeper without some indication that he felt even a tiny portion of the attraction that tormented her on a daily basis. He watched her and the humor slowly slipped from his expression. The silence stretched on and the strain between them grew until it eventually became unbearable. His gaze dropped to her breasts as they lifted and fell beneath her t-shirt.

When his eyes met hers again, the intensity in them left her stunned. "If we're doing this, I'll need some inspiration."

Y/N’s breathing shallowed and her pulse raced. "Like what?" She could barely get the words out.

"Use your imagination." Quinn grabbed her wrist and led her into the living room. He took her over to the coffee table and urged her to sit on the edge. He positioned himself on the couch opposite her and relaxed against the back. When his attention returned to her, his eyebrows lifted. "When this is over, so is all the awkwardness between us. I want the old Y/N back."

Y/N swallowed. "Okay." Did he actually intend to go through with this or was he teasing her and making her wait for the moment where he burst into laughter? She went for something safe just to test him. Her fingers reached up to tug at the clip holding her hair in place. She pulled it free and her hair tumbled over her shoulders. "Does that inspire you?" She asked, already knowing the answer.

He let out an amused breath. "You're gorgeous, but I'm going to need more."

Y/N hid her pleasure at his words, at the warmth they encouraged inside her. She nibbled her lower lip, wondering how far to go next. Affection and tenderness filled his expression. Quinn looked like he wanted her to keep going. The fact that he just sat there patiently waiting, his hands resting on his knees while his gaze swept over her, helped her relax. He didn't push her or tease her so she decided to make the next step more adventurous.

Y/N held her breath and gripped the hem of her t-shirt, dragging it over her torso. The bundle dropped from her slackened fingertips and she sat before him wearing only her blue lace bra and black yoga pants. An intense longing spread through her as she watched him watching her.

"Now we're getting somewhere.” Quinn said. She heard the huskiness in his voice and shivers tickled the surface of her skin.

Before she could change her mind, Y/N stood up and made quick work of removing her pants. "I seem to be the only one who's actually doing anything." She sat back down in her white thong, gripping the edge of the table to keep her trembling fingers steady. "Don't you have a job to do?"

Quinn’s mouth quirked with the smile she knew and loved. "Why don't you just tell me you want to see my cock?"

Desire swelled inside her, crashing in the pit of her stomach, making her feel as if she'd just lost her footing. She met his eyes and in a voice that had turned surprisingly breathy she said, "I really want to see your cock."

Heat flashed in his eyes. "Keep that up and you'll be doing a lot more than looking." Quinn grabbed his top at the neckline and leaned forward, drawing it over his head to reveal his entire upper body to her for the first time. He'd never been one for strutting around the apartment half-naked and she regretted that the moment she set eyes on his bare chest.

“Amazing." Y/N felt a sudden urge to run her tongue over his abs. "You've got an incredible body, but I still don't see your cock."

Quinn chuckled then and it thrilled her that they could find time to laugh despite the sensual nature of the moment. "You're a little eager, aren't you? Been a while?"

"Ages." Y/N reached behind her to the clasp on her bra.

Y/N flicked it open and drew the straps down her arms until they settled at her bent elbows. She kept the cups in place with her hands and sent him an expectant look. The idea of baring herself to him in this way made her heart race. He'd already told her he liked what he saw when he caught her here on the couch. That wasn't the problem. It was being almost naked and sitting just across from him while he… she had to drag in a steadying breath.

Quinn grinned and lifted his hips, shoving at the waistbands of both his shorts and underwear. He lowered them at the same time, stopping just before he got to the good stuff. "You sure you can handle this?"

She watched the ridges in his stomach contract and her mouth went dry. She really wasn't sure of anything right now. "I won't be the one handling it, but I'm sure I'll enjoy watching."

His huffed out a laugh and his thumbs stayed tucked in the top of his shorts, teasing her with the skin he had on display and the mystery of what remained hidden. "There's only one problem.” He said.

She clutched her loosened bra to her breasts. "What's that?"

He met her eyes. "I didn't get to see you cum."

Her cheeks flushed and a quick thrill ran through her. Y/N knew exactly what he was getting at; she'd have to be content with an unfinished show from him or join in so they could reach that peak together. The thought of him in that moment, watching that look come over his face, she didn't want to miss out on seeing it for real. "You want to watch me?"

Quinn gave her a half-smile. "I'd rather make you cum than sit back and watch, but I'll take what I can get.”

Her heart slowed to a heavy thud. "What?"

Quinn shook his head and laughed. "So pretty, yet so dense.” He teased. "What do you think all the flirting's been about?"

"I just thought you flirted with all women like that." Knowing she'd jumped to the wrong conclusion made her happier than she'd thought possible. "You want to have sex with me?" Y/N narrowed her eyes, staring at him. He'd better not be joking.

"No." His gaze traveled over her, pausing at her mouth before moving slowly down her body. He finally looked her in the eyes. "Having sex sounds so clinical. I want to fuck you."

Oh, my God. She let out the breath she'd been holding. A surge of something completely and utterly carnal took hold of her. "I didn't know.” Y/N said breathlessly. "I mean, look at you, and then look at me."

Quinn frowned, appearing annoyed by that, as if he couldn't understand why she felt so out of her depth when it came to his physical appeal. "If you don't shut up and come over here, I'm going to start wondering why I'm so hopelessly attracted to you."

Y/N couldn't catch her breath. Her fingers tightened around the delicate material of her bra as she took it from her breasts and let it fall to the floor. She shook her head slowly. "I still want to watch you.” She heard herself saying.

His gaze dropped to her bared breasts and his jaw clenched. "Better lose the panties, then."

The expression on his face made her want to kiss him. A rush of need swept through her. Her nipples tightened into sensitive buds. Y/N pushed herself off the coffee table and slipped her fingers into the waistband of her thong. Quinn’s eyes followed her every movement and as she lowered her panties he pushed his shorts and boxers down his thighs.

Y/N stepped from her underwear just as he revealed his cock, inch by delectable inch. Her pulse raced. She couldn't tear her eyes away from the sight. It was already hard and now she'd just found somewhere else on his body that she wanted to lick. Quinn kicked his shorts free as she sat back down on the table. She perched on the edge, torn between the need to climb over him and straddle his lap or keep her distance for a better view.

"Ladies first.” Quinn said. A muscle twitched in his jaw. His eyes burned with need. She'd never seen this side of him before.

She lifted her feet, resting them on tiptoes while she slowly, slowly parted her knees. One hand reached behind her, her palm flattening against the table top for support. The other dipped between her thighs to tease her damp folds. Moisture coated her fingertips, and she sighed, wanting to tip her head back but unwilling to lose sight of him for a second.

Quinn groaned and grabbed hold of his cock, stroking the thick, hard length as he watched her. His eyes slid over every part of her, from her face to her breasts, dropping between her legs like a physical caress. The veins in the back of his hand stood out. The way his fingers gripped his erection made her own move faster over her slick pussy. She wanted his hands on her, all over her. She wanted to feel the damp heat of his mouth as it travelled across her skin, the rigid length of him as it sank inside her.

"I was thinking about you.” Y/N said, struggling to put the words together. "When you walked in on me, I mean." Her fingers slid over her clit, massaging the swollen bud while her gaze meshed with his. She hit a sensitive spot and closed her eyes briefly, swallowing a moan. "I'm always thinking about you."

"Y/N." She opened her eyes at the sound of her name. Quinn let out a heavy breath that bordered on a groan, working his cock with increasing speed. She imagined lapping at it with the tip of her tongue. "C'mere, I want you."

His words gave her a head rush. Y/N drew her legs together and warmth pulsed between her thighs as she rose from her position on the table. She took the two steps that lay between them, leaning over him to bring her mouth into close contact with his. He reached up with one hand and filled his palm with her flesh, massaging her breast, teasing her nipple while his lips brushed hers.

Y/N sighed and climbed over him, hovering with her legs spread either side of his thighs. She clasped her hand around his, encouraging him to keep stroking his cock. Quinn groaned and pressed his mouth to hers, taking control, guiding the kiss. He took it deeper, drawing it out with slow sweeps of his tongue, soft nibbles of his lips.

Quinn thumbed her nipple. A whimper sounded in her throat and her hand skated over her stomach to delve back between her thighs. Y/N found her wetness, teasing her hidden nub. She moaned and rocked her hips to meet the firm glide of her fingertips. The slick head of his cock bumped against her knuckles as they both pleasured themselves. Her control faltered and she kissed him harder, thrusting her tongue against his as her desire grew. Her hips jerked.

Y/N broke the kiss, her breaths coming heavily as she whispered, "I wanna ride you, Quinny."

Quinn growled and tugged harder at his thick length, using his free hand to grab a fistful of her hair at the back of her head. "Cum for me first.” He said. “Then it's all yours." He used his grip on her hair to hold her right there and crushed his lips to hers.

His tongue plunged into her mouth. A husky moan tore from her and she rubbed her clit, massaging, teasing, all pushing herself closer to the edge. Her eyes closed tightly, her only focus to come. She needed him inside her. His hard, wet cock kept sliding against the back of her hand, taunting her and urging her on.

Quinn seemed to sense her impending release. Either that or he was close himself. His mouth grew more demanding, his groans more frequent. Her fingertips increased pressure on her clit, slipping back and forth. Her other hand cupped the back of his neck, holding on. Her stomach tensed and her hips thrust. His mouth roamed over hers, his tongue caressed. It only increased her desire, her need for him. His hand in her hair, his body beneath her, she wanted him so much.

Y/N pulled her mouth free to drag in a shaky breath. Her forehead rested against his. She cried out, shuddering. It flowed through her in a surge of complete bliss. Her moan, when it came, was throaty and full of pleasure. Her fingers kept rubbing, her hips jerking. While the final tremors still shook her body, Quinn released her hair and clasped her hips. He shoved his cock inside her, pulling her down to deepen the connection. Her back bowed and she let out a garbled sound. He filled her, harsh, fast. Her wet fingers dug into his shoulder, her other hand clutched his hair.

His deep groan against her throat made her shiver. Quinn wrapped his arms tightly around her and fucked her hard. Y/N held on, turning her head to press her lips to his temple. Her breasts jolted against his chest. Her stomach quivered as the need built inside her all over again.

His arm tightened around her and he lifted her, still connected with him, lowering her onto her back on the couch. Quinn rested on one elbow, using his other hand to grasp her ass as he took her even harder. His cock plunged inside her, his hips smacking hers. Sweat-slicked skin met sweat-slicked skin. His chest brushed against her taut nipples.

Quinn looked into her eyes, a glint of something wild in his gaze. His mouth lifted in a half-smile. "You're so fucking hot.” He said.

Y/N clenched her thighs around him, linking her ankles at the base of his spine. "Shut up and make me cum."

Quinn nuzzled her throat and chuckled, damned if the sound didn't make a shiver pass right through her. His pace increased, growing in intensity until she found herself having a brand new appreciation for athletic men. She met his thrusts with her bucking hips, tipping her head back and biting her lip.

Y/N felt it coming, the throb beginning between her thighs. Quinn’s teeth grazed her throat and it was all she needed to give her that final push. She gripped his shoulders and let out a hoarse moan, writhing beneath him. She was still so sensitive from the last effort that she wanted to pull away from him and get closer all at the same time. Her release only spurred him on.

Quinn’s fingers dug into the flesh of her ass, pulling her toward his thrusts. His mouth traveled across her collarbone, moving up to her jaw. He rested his lips there, his warm breaths whispering over her as he reached his peak. Y/N held on, bracing herself as he gave a couple of final, forceful thrusts, letting out a low groan as he came inside her. She hugged him, her arms and thighs wrapping around him to keep him close. He relaxed against her, his heart thudding hard, his breaths wrenching from him.

Y/N’s eyes drifted closed and a smile claimed her features. She relished in the weight of him pressing against her. She couldn't believe how much had changed between them in such a short space of time. From the awkwardness this morning to this, she let out a trembling breath and pressed her cheek to his, closing her eyes to take it all in.

A short while later, Quinn stirred against her and lifted his head. "Hi." He smiled, his eyes heavy-lidded as he lowered his mouth to give her a long, lazy kiss. She lifted her arms above her head, stretching leisurely beneath him and sighing as his lips moved over hers. He gave her one final soft kiss and pulled back to look her over. "We're going to have to come up with some arrangement here. Best friends with benefits or something because I need to do this again."

Y/N lowered her arms, hugging his neck as she squeezed her thighs around him. He was still inside her and judging by that look on his face he'd be hard again in no time. "Really? You want to do it again, huh?" She could barely keep the pleasure from her voice.

"Yeah." Quinn slipped his hand over her breast, massaging her flesh. "We were in such a hurry, I neglected these. I want to make up for that oversight." Her breath caught and her hips lifted beneath him, and he smiled. "You okay with that?" He dipped his head to draw her nipple into his mouth.

Y/N let out a sound that couldn't decide if it wanted to be a laugh or a moan. "Yeah, I think I can handle that."

#quinn hughes fic #quinn hughes fanfiction #quinn hughes one shot #quinn hughes x reader #quinn hughes blurb #quinn hughes smut #quinn hughes imagine #quinn hughes #quinn hughes x female reader #quinn hughes oneshot #quinn hughes x fem!reader #quinn hughes x y/n #quinn hughes x you #qh43 #vancouver canucks #quinn hughes fluff #quinn hughes drabble #quinn hughes thoughts

[theemporium]

[8.3k] the five times you tried to deny it, and the one time you and quinn gave into the bond pulling you together. (smut included)

based off this. smut included but it's not explicit. i may write a more detailed smut one shot in this universe later.

.

The first time you shared a moment with Quinn Hughes, you truly thought you were out-of-your-mind insane. 

You weren’t even five years old when you first met the Hughes family. Your family had just moved, you were new to town and you were just confused why your whole life had to be packed up in boxes (no matter how many times your parents explained it). 

And somewhere between the tears of being unable to find your favourite teddy in the cardboard boxes and not giving in to your parents’ bribes that you now had your very own—and fairly big—room in the new house, you had met Luke Hughes. 

It was indescribable the way the bond between you and the youngest Hughes boy just snapped, but it was the only way to explain it. One day you were moving to a scary, new place and the next you were attached to the hip with an awkward, little boy who you loved like family. 

Where Luke went, you followed.

When you jumped, Luke was right behind you. 

You were a package deal, never one without each other. And it had always been the case. You were best friends. You shared something that went deeper than friendship and blood. You were each other’s person, and there was no doubt about that in anybody’s mind. 

Your family became Luke’s and, in turn, his became yours. Ellen was a strong, empowering figure in your life that felt like a second mother. Jim was kind and encouraging, guiding you through some of your lowest moments. Even Jack felt like an older brother, someone who teased you and taunted you but defended you if anybody else tried to do the same.

But with Quinn, there was nothing. 

For years, you were just his annoying little brother’s annoying little friend. And when you grew up, he was so focused on hockey that your paths rarely crossed, even with the countless amount of time you spent under the Hughes’ roof. You reached high school, he was already off to college. And when you and Luke got into Michigan, Quinn was already settled in Vancouver and playing in the big leagues like he always dreamed of. 

He was by no means an asshole or a dick to you, your relationship with the oldest Hughes brother was just…non-existent. He was just there in your life. He was Luke’s oldest brother than you sometimes saw around, and nothing more. 

You didn’t think that would ever change over time, let alone in the span of one summer.

There was no question that you would join the Hughes family at their lakehouse in the summer the second you finished up with finals. You had decided to spend some time back home with your parents before you joined the boys at the lakehouse, just as the friends started to fly in and it felt like it would be the same as every other summer. 

You were painfully wrong. 

Despite only just arriving, you should have known better than thinking the Hughes brothers were capable of a lazy day. The second your bags were dropped in your designated room (just beside Luke’s at the end of the hallway), they had dragged you out onto the boat and demanded to make up for lost time. 

You laughed until tears were streaming down your cheeks. You ate until you swore you’d explode if you had another bite. You drank until the beers started to make you feel a little buzzed and settled and content. You sat around the dinner table sharing jokes and stories and random thoughts until, one by one, everyone tapped in for the night.

But not you. 

Despite the travelling and the tiring day you had, the exhaustion in your bones wasn’t enough to settle you. You felt restless. You felt wide awake. You didn’t have the heart to lie in your bed and aimlessly stare at the ceiling. So, with the knowledge that Luke was already out like a light with no hope of waking up until the sun rises, you found yourself sitting on one of the chairs outside by the fire pit, the dying embers your only company as you enjoyed the serene silence of the lakehouse. 

At least, they were your only company until he followed you outside. 

“Couldn’t sleep?”

You turned your head to look away from the slowing fire and towards the lakehouse, where you found the eldest Hughes brother walking towards you. He had changed from the clothes he was wearing earlier, the shirt and shorts now replaced with sweatpants and a hoodie. Your lips twitched upwards when you noticed it was a Devils jersey he probably stole from his brothers, and one he probably wouldn’t dare to wear outside the privacy of the lakehouse.

You shook your head before nodding back towards the house. “What about you? Luke’s snores too much to deal with?”

Quinn breathed out a laugh. “We both got the short end of the stick sharing a wall with him.” 

“You can say that again,” you murmured with a snort before you turned to face the fire pit again. “At least it’s peaceful out here.”

“And cold,” Quinn noted. 

“I think that hoodie is keeping you warm enough,” you mused as he closed the distance to the firepit, now standing behind your seat. You almost jumped when you felt him place the blanket over your shoulders, not having even noticed he was holding it when he came out here. 

“I meant for you,” Quinn stated simply before he took the spot next to you, his shoulders brushing against yours as you both sat there, staring at the dying fire. “You’re not even wearing a jacket.”

“Sorry, dad,” you joked, and maybe it was a trick of the light, but you could have sworn you saw his lips twitch upwards. “It’s fine, I was heading back inside anyways.”

His brows furrowed together as you moved to stand up. “You looked quite settled though.”

“Well yeah,” you started, your cheeks burning as you noticed him nodding for you to continue. “I don’t know, I just thought you wanted to sit out here.”

He blinked. “So you were gonna leave?”

“I’ve had my time. I’m not gonna get in the way of your…silent brooding,” you said with a shrug of your shoulders.

He tilted his head to the side before he spoke. “You don’t have to leave. We can…silently brood together.”

This time it was your brows that furrowed together.

“Unless you don’t want to stay out here with me…” Quinn trailed off, a little awkwardly. 

“It’s not that, it’s just—” you started, pausing for a moment before you shrugged again. “We don’t really talk.”

Quinn frowned. “We talk.”

“Quinn, this is the longest conversation we’ve had in six years,” you pointed out to him. He opened his mouth like he was about to counter your statement, but after a few moments it seemed like he realised you were telling the truth. 

“Okay, maybe that’s true, but…it doesn’t have to be anymore,” he said as he patted the spot next to him, the spot you were sitting in a few minutes ago. “I mean, you’re like family”

You hesitated for a short moment before you settled in the spot next to him. It took a few more seconds before you finally had the guts to lift the end of the blanket, offering it to him with a sheepish smile. It took every single part of you burning with hope that it was too dark to notice the way your cheeks burned a little as he happily accepted the blanket and wrapped it around himself too.

“Up until junior year in high school, I thought you hated me,” you confessed, blurting the words out before you had a chance to stop yourself.

“What? Really?” He questioned, somewhat incredulously before he frowned. “What changed?”

“I realised you were just like that with everyone,” you admitted. “You all have your roles. Jack is the hyper-active golden retriever brother. Luke is, like, a black cat. Kinda keeps to himself, but he’s clingy when he trusts you.”

Quinn hummed, his eyes focused on the side of your face. “And me?”

“The grumpy cat,” you said as you turned to look at him, your voice a little breathless as you continued. “You look like you hate everyone, but you probably love the hardest. I’ve seen it with Luke. You act like he annoys you but…you probably love him more than anyone else in the world.”

“Other than you,” he noted.

You grinned a little. “Oh please, we aren’t on the same level. I mean, you can try to compete but you’ll lose.”

Quinn snorted, and it took you by surprise. “Yeah, you and my brother have your weird…psychic thing. I don’t think anyone could compare.” He paused for a few moments before he spoke up again. “You know, he threatened me about you once.”

You let out a noise of disbelief. “What?”

“The bond between you,” Quinn laughed.

Your eyes narrowed in suspicion. “When?”

“It was when you broke your arm when you were like seven years old,” Quinn said. “You were bummed that whole summer.”

“It was meant to be the first year me and Luke could go tubing alone,” you murmured as the memories flashed through your mind. You hated every second a camera was pointed at you and the massive cast on your arm.

“I won this massive bag of sour patch kids at that carnival game and I knew they were your favourites,” he continued. “But Luke threw a tantrum. He cried to Dad that I was trying to steal his best friend, that I was bribing you. He said that if I gave you the bag, he would push me off the boat when Dad was going full speed.”

Your lips parted as you let out a surprised laugh. “Oh wow,” you murmured with a shake of your head. “That bastard robbed me out of a huge bag of sour patch kids.”

Quinn laughed, shaking his head. “That’s all you took from that story? Not the fact that he almost killed me?” 

“Eh,” you shrugged. “You’re here now, aren’t you? But you know what’s not here? The bag of sour patch kids.”

“It was really good,” Quinn mused playfully as you lightly dug an elbow into his ribs. “Ouch. Kidding.”

“No, you’re not.”

“I’m really not,” he confessed before smiling softly. “I’ll get you another to make up for it.”

You sighed dramatically. “It’s not the same.”

“What? You want me to win it again?” Quinn questioned, though you could hear the amusement in his voice.

You wiggled your eyebrows. “Scared you’ll fail?”

“Absolutely not,” Quinn announced before offering his hand. “Fine. Deal.”

“Deal,” you repeated as you shook his hand.

But neither one of you pulled away. You sat there, huddled under the tartan blanket he had taken from the linen closet on the second floor, staring as you held onto each other’s hand. You could have pulled away. You should have pulled away. But some part of you kind of liked the feeling of his large, warm hand engulfing yours. 

“You sure I won’t steal you away from Luke?” Quinn murmured, his eyes watching your face closely.

You smiled softly. “Depends how big the bag is.”

And he laughed, finally pulling his hand away as he turned his attention back to the firepit, and you were left wondering what the fuck just happened between you and Quinn Hughes.

…

You shared many moments with Quinn Hughes after that night, but the second time it really hit you again, you had no doubt that whatever was happening between you both was definitely a mutual feeling.

It was one of the hottest days of the summer, so it only made sense to take the boat out on the lake. With a backpack full of snacks and suncream, along with a cooler packed to the brim with water and beer bottles, you were set to have a good day. 

Despite the heat, you had been wearing one of Luke’s old UMICH shirts as an overdress as you sat on the boat, pressed against him as Quinn took charge of driving. For reasons that were beyond your own understanding, you hadn’t opened up to your best friend about the growing friendship between you and his brother. You didn’t know why. You knew it wasn’t really a big deal.

But some part of you wanted to keep the bond bubbling between you and Quinn just for yourself, a secret shared between you two.

“Twenty bucks says Trevor tries to do a backflip before Jack,” Luke murmured to you as you both watched the other two boys, already playfully shoving each other. 

“An extra says his heels hit the back of his head when he does it,” you murmured back, your lips twitching when Luke let out a loud, sudden laugh that caught the attention of the other boys.

“Quinn, they are doing it again!” Jack called out.

Luke frowned. “Doing what?”

“Being you,” Jack retorted, causing the youngest Hughes to roll his eyes.

“Stop being jealous, Rowdy,” you teased, flashing him a mocking pout. “Just cause you and Trevor wish you had what we have.” 

“What we have is better,” Trevor insisted. 

You and Luke shared a look before you both replied, “sure, Jan.” 

“God, that is weird,” Cole murmured, sitting on the other side of you and Luke with an oddly curious expression. 

“Wait until you see them move in sync,” Alex grumbled, his nose scrunched up. “It’s creepy.”

“I can’t believe we are on a boat with a bunch of jealous bitches,” you mused to your best friend, who only snorted in response. 

By the time the boat had been anchored and settled, it took less than three seconds before most of the boys were jumping into the lake. Luke had tried to drag you in with him, but you batted his hands away. You should’ve known better than to think he would give up. 

You only had enough time to shriek when Luke lifted you in his arms, not thinking twice before he threw you off the edge before following. By the time you broke through the surface, he was already laughing his ass off with the majority of the other boys. 

“Dick!” You laughed at him. 

“You still love me!” He called back. 

“Unfortunately.” 

You made your way towards the boat, kicking your legs to get you away from Luke as quickly as you could. You reached for the small ladder, your hands gripping the metal as you tried to pull yourself back up onto the boat. 

“Here, let me help.” 

You didn’t get a chance to respond before Quinn’s hands were wrapped around your waist, practically hauling you back onto the boat with ease. Your cheeks burned as you stumbled into him, your hands on his bare chest as you found your footing. 

“Sorry,” you flashed him a sheepish smile. 

But he didn’t look that bothered. “No worries at all.” 

You glanced down at Luke’s shirt you were still wearing when he had thrown you in. It was absolutely soaked, and now laid heavy against your skin as you gently picked at the hem. 

“Asshole,” you muttered under your breath. “I didn’t bring anything else.” 

“I have a hoodie you can borrow,” Quinn muttered out, far too quickly and, for a moment, you wondered if the pink on his cheeks was a blush or sunburn. “If you want.” 

“I—yeah,” you eventually stuttered out. “That would be great.” 

It hasn’t even been purposeful. It just made sense to peel the wet shirt over your head, hoping to wring it out and let it dry in the sun while you swim around for another hour or so. You didn’t even think twice when you wiggled out of it. You didn’t think it was a big deal until you lifted your head and found Quinn staring at you, lips parted and hoodie held aimlessly in his hand as he gaped at you. 

“You good?” You questioned as though your heart wasn’t racing in your chest at his eyes on you. 

“Yeah, no,” Quinn cleared his throat, blinking a few times. “Just…yeah.”

You raised your brows. “Never seen a girl in a bikini before, Hughes?” 

“Never seen you in one,” he corrected, and something about his response caught you off guard. Maybe because you weren’t expecting him to admit it. “You’re gorgeous.” 

You tilted your head to the side. “You sound surprised by that.” 

“What?” His eyes widened slightly. “No! No, I didn’t mean like that—” 

“STOP BEING A CHICKEN AND GET BACK IN HERE!” 

You glanced over your shoulder, your eyes narrowing down at your best friend. “I’m not a chicken!” 

“Prove it then!” Luke called out. 

You turned back around to look at Quinn who hadn’t torn his eyes away from you. He looked like he wanted to say something, maybe even finish what he started a few moments ago before he was interrupted. But in the end, he couldn’t find himself able to say a single word. 

You didn’t turn to look back at him as you raced back into the water, your stomach churning. Maybe it was the curiosity of wanting to know what he was going to say. Maybe it was the surprise that Quinn of all people couldn’t get his words out. Maybe you were still trying to navigate the weird shift in dynamic between you. 

Or maybe it was because Quinn Hughes called you gorgeous and you couldn’t stop thinking about it. 

But, for what it was worth, you still slid his hoodie over your head when you got out of the water. Even if the shirt was dried by that point. 

And you could’ve sworn you saw him smile when you did. 

…

The third time was undeniable. You felt something for Quinn Hughes, and it was reciprocated. 

It was another sleepless night. Something in the air felt different, like it had shifted. And now you were left alone in the quietness of the lakehouse somewhere in the early hours of the morning.

The days had started to blur into each other, passing in a happy daze as you basked in a summer spent with some of your closest friends. Today had been no different with made-up tournaments of pool and darts, tanning by the lake and drinks shared that put a hefty dent in the supply from the fridge. 

You were buzzed and happy by the time you made your way to the room, finding yourself in Luke’s room before the boy eventually dozed off somewhere between your rambles of who could actively fight a horse-sized duck and the latest season of your favourite show you had been convincing him to watch. You had slid out of his room, heading towards your own room to settle down for the night. 

But that restless feeling returned. 

Instead, your steps lead you down the stairs and into the kitchen. You had propped yourself on the island, a glass of water sat beside you and your eyes focused on the window above the sink. It was quiet. So quiet. And some part of you resented it, that you were the only one awake right now. 

But just like last time, you were quickly disproven of your assumption.

Your head turned when you heard footsteps approaching and, for a second, you thought maybe it was Luke. But the steps didn’t sound heavy enough to be his, and there was nothing in this world that could wake that boy from his slumber. 

You shouldn’t have been surprised to find Quinn standing in the doorway instead. 

He was dressed like he had just crawled out of bed. With grey sweatpants that laid low on his hips and a white shirt that clung onto every crevice and curve of his torso, he stood in the kitchen doorway with bleary eyes and a small frown on his face. 

“Why are you still awake?”

You shrugged. “I couldn’t sleep.”

“I’m starting to think you have insomnia or something,” he murmured, running a hand through the messy curls on his head, but it did little to tame them. Your lips twitched at the sight. “Or maybe I’ve just never noticed how shitty your sleep schedule was before.”

“Kick a girl when she’s down,” you mused playfully as you watched him lean against the frame. “Why are you awake right now? You look like you’re seconds from falling asleep.” 

Quinn hummed in agreement. “I’m a light sleeper.”

Your brows furrowed together. “So?”

“So, I heard you thumping down the stairs and into the kitchen,” Quinn said, the corners of his lips lifting when he heard the noise that left your lips.

“Thumping?” You repeated with a scoff.

“Thumping,” he nodded in confirmation before pushing himself off the frame, closing the distance between the kitchen entrance and the kitchen counter you were currently sitting on. “You’re very heavy-footed.”

“I’ll be sure to remember that the next time we skate together,” you grumbled, your eyes glued on the oldest Hughes as he sleepily shuffled towards you. Your legs parted almost instantly as he settled between them, his hands on either side of you as he looked up at you with a slight hazed look on his face. 

“You’d never catch me,” he murmured softly.

“Is that a challenge?” You retorted.

Quinn shook his head as he breathed out his nose. “Do you have to turn everything into a competition?”

“It makes things more fun,” you told him, painfully aware of how close you were. It wasn’t like the boat, there was no one else in the kitchen. Just you, Quinn and the accompanying silence of the lakehouse. You wondered if you should have felt guilty for enjoying it so much. 

“I can think of a million other things that are more fun,” he countered, his head tilting to the side as he lifted his head to look at you.

A beat passed before you replied, “want to show me some?”

You didn’t miss the way his eyes instantly dropped to your lips. You felt something deep in your stomach twist in delight, in satisfaction even. His eyes lingered there for one, two, three seconds before his eyes met yours again. They were darker, a little more awake than they were minutes ago when he shuffled into the kitchen. They made your chest feel tight. 

“I can’t,” he murmured, his voice a little breathless and strained. “You’re Luke’s best friend.”

“And you’re Luke’s brother,” you countered. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“I shouldn’t,” he insisted. 

You leaned forward a little, your nose brushing against his. “But do you want to?”

There was a pause. It was brief and barely lasted a few seconds, but it felt like a lifetime passed between you both. You sat on the counter, Quinn standing in front of you, and the deafening silence that surrounded you both. It didn’t feel like you were in the kitchen, let alone the lakehouse. You were in your own little bubble, weighing up the consequences of what was about to happen. 

And in that little bubble, every single one of them seemed worth it.

A small noise of surprise left you as Quinn leaned forward, his hands moving to cup the back of your head as he pressed his lips against yours. You melted into his embrace embarrassingly quick, your hands resting on his chest as you found your lips moving against his. It was hesitant and a little off-pace, like both of you were trying to figure out what you were doing.

And then he pulled away, just enough to catch a glimpse of your face but it was short-lasting before your hands were fisting his shirt and pulling him in for another kiss. 

The kisses became more confident, more sure. His hands dropped from the back of your head, gliding down your back and resting on your hips before he was pulling you towards the edge of the counter. You wrapped your legs around his torso, your arms following suit around his neck and, fuck, who knew kissing Quinn Hughes could be so addictive?

“Shit,” you breathed out, your head falling back as his lips trailed along your jaw and down the column of your neck. His beard scratched against your skin, tickling and teasing and your legs tightened around him. “Quinn.”

“Sound pretty when you say my name,” his words vibrated against your skin, his hands tightening their grip. 

“That feels good,” you whined, your body arching into him as his teeth grazed along a sensitive spot on the base of your neck. Your heart was beating against your ribs, the coil in your stomach was tightening as his hands teased the hem of your shirt and the painful realisation that it had been far too long since a guy had touched you made you eager to keep him close.

“Yeah?” You could hear the cockiness in his voice. “I make you feel good, sweetheart?”

“Quinn,” you murmured, your cheeks flushing in embarrassment when he pulled away to look at you.

“Say it,” he said, his fingers squeezing your cheeks together when you tried to turn your head away. 

“You make me feel good,” you whispered, a little breathless.

His chest moved with soft pants, his hooded eyes dropping down to your red, swollen lips. “Do you want me to stop?”

You shook your head.

“Words, baby,” he murmured, his fingers squeezing your cheeks again as you stared at him with wide eyes. “I want you to be sure of what you’re doing.”

You rolled your eyes. “I know I wanna fuck you, Quinn, I’m not some stupid little kid anymore.”

“I never once thought you were,” he said simply, and before you even got the chance to reply, his lips were pressed against your again.

You didn’t remember much about the journey to Quinn’s room. All you knew was that he was strong—really fucking strong—which shouldn’t have surprised you for a professional athlete. But when he had the strength and control to pick you up with ease and walk up to his room on nothing but muscle memory as he made you whine and squirm in his grasp, you had to find it more than a little impressive. 

Your back bounced against the mattress as you pulled him down, eager to feel the weight of him on top of you. You weren’t exactly what you felt for the oldest Hughes brother. You weren’t even sure if you wanted to know.

But in that moment you wanted him. You wanted him on top of you. You wanted him inside of you. You wanted him in a way you had never wanted Quinn Hughes in your life, and maybe if you weren’t so lost in your own desperation to feel his skin against yours, it would have freaked you out. 

But right now, your focus was on him. 

Your clothes laid abandoned in a pile on his bedroom floor, right beside his sweatpants and shirt. His hands were all over you, touching you and stroking you and holding you. His lips trailed over your bare skin, desperate to kiss every fucking inch like his life depended on it. 

And when you felt his curls tickling your skin, his beard scratching against your inner thighs and his nose nudging against your sensitive clit, your need to feel him inside you was almost unbearable. 

“Please,” you cried out, your fists clenching the navy bed sheets beneath you as you squirmed under his grasp. “Quinn, I need—”

“I know what you need, honey,” he murmured, his lips and chin still wet with your arousal as he trailed kisses up your stomach and between your tits before his lips claimed yours. “Gonna give you what you want.” 

The noises you let out were muffled by his lips against yours, his tongue teasing along your bottom lip before sliding into your mouth. Whispered pants and soft praises were shared between heavy kisses as Quinn ripped open the foil, his forehead pressed against yours as he whispered how good you were doing before he finally bottomed out inside of you. 

Your experience with men in bed wasn’t large or extensive, but no one had ever treated you the way Quinn Hughes did. He was generous and caring. He was attentive and passionate. He was bigger than anyone you had ever slept with before. And even in the quiet hours of the lakehouse and the slow roll of his hips, he had you pressing your face into the pillows to muffle the noises you were making. 

And much to your surprise, he held you against his chest when it was all over, rather than letting you slide out of bed and awkwardly scramble to leave the room. 

“Quinn,” you started, your head tucked under his chin as his fingers trailed along your bare back.

“Yeah?” 

“What are we doing?” 

Quinn didn’t say anything for a few moments. “We’re just having fun,” he said eventually as his arms tightened around you. “Let’s just enjoy it, yeah? Don’t think about it too much.”

So, you didn’t. You just kept the million and one questions you had to yourself and enjoyed the feeling of falling asleep in the arms of Quinn Hughes.

…

The fourth time wasn’t even purposeful, it was more like chance—like fate.

The storm had taken you all by surprise. It was by no means a large storm, or particularly concerning. But it left the lake unassailable and most of the roads to the nearest town at risk of being flooded. 

The weather warnings had been going off for the last twenty four hours. You could feel the storm approaching, you could feel it in the sticky, humid air that clung onto your skin like a second layer. The little sundress you had been wearing was doing little to combat the heat, especially with the additional fact that you were pretty sure the AC stopped working a few hours ago and the fans the boys had set up around the house were doing nothing but blowing hot air at you.

What wasn’t surprising was the lack of concern for the storm. It would pass in a few days, and none of the boys seemed particularly on edge at the fact the roads would be closed and they would essentially be trapped in the lakehouse for the next week or so.

Nobody but Quinn.

“I’m heading out to the store to stock up for the storm,” he announced as he entered the living room where the rest of the group had been sprawled over the couches, their attention focused on the tv screen displaying the video game they were currently playing. “Any of your assholes wanna help?”

Silence.

Quinn sighed loudly. “Should have seen that one coming.”

“I’ll join,” you said, not thinking twice as you stood up from your spot on the loveseat you were sharing with Luke. 

The boy’s attention perked up the second you stood up, his brows furrowed together as he watched you saunter towards his brother. “You’re willingly going to the store with Quinn?”

You paused, your brows furrowed together. “Yeah?”

“It’s over an hour away,” Luke said as you continued to stare blankly at you. “He’s going to bore you to death! He doesn't talk!”

Quinn scoffed, rolling his eyes. “Geez, thanks.”

“I’ll survive,” you assured him, ruffling his hair as you walked past him and towards the front door. “Plus, I’ll talk enough for the both of us.” 

You felt like your heart was in your throat as you slipped your shoes on, waiting to hear the sound of Luke following you to the door. You expected to see him running towards you and Quinn, a frown on his lips as he muttered about coming to help because he would feel bad otherwise. 

You tried not to think about how badly you didn’t want him to do that.

“We are leaving now!” 

“Bye!” Jack called out from the living room. 

“You sure you don’t wanna come?”

“Not a chance!” Luke called out this time. 

You could barely bite back your grin as you quickly rushed out the house, making your way to the passenger side of Quinn’s truck. He didn’t say a word as he settled into the driver’s seat, key in the ignition and engine roaring to life as he reversed out the driveway and started the hour commute to the nearest grocery store. 

“Okay, spill.” 

You turned your head to face the boy, your eyebrows furrowing slightly in confusion. “Spill what?”

“What twin telepathy, voodoo magic you pulled back there,” Quinn said with a small snort of laughter. “The dude has been attached to your hip since you both were five. There was no way he just chose to stay back.”

“Maybe he’s finally getting sick of me after all these years,” you teased.

“Yeah, and I heard pigs were flying too,” he deadpanned. 

You grinned. “Is there a reason you want to get me alone, Mr Hughes?” 

His lips twitched upwards as he cast you a look. “I think it’s the same reason you were begging me to not stop last night in the—”

“Shut up!” Your cheeks burned, though you couldn’t help but laugh a little when he did too. 

The journey to the store went smoothly. Despite Quinn’s insistence that he didn’t speed, you reached the grocery store in the next town over less than forty minutes after you left. You each took a trolley before ransacking the aisles, filling both carts up to the brim until you had enough to supply you through the zombie apocalypse. 

Quinn swiped his card and you packed the groceries into the back of the truck. 

And then, the rain started. 

“Shit,” Quinn murmured, a frown on his face as he ducked his head down to watch the rain heavily pour down. “They said it wasn’t gonna start up until tonight.” 

“Do you think we’ll be able to get back fine?” You asked, listening to the rain patter against the roof of the truck. “Maybe it will ease up.” 

Quinn raised his brows. “It’s the start of the storm. It’s only gonna get worse.” 

“You scared of a little rain?” You teased, gently nudging your elbow against his. 

“It’s just stupid,” Quinn said with a shrug. “It’s a nuisance.” 

“It’s fun if you let it be,” you retorted. 

Quinn turned to face you in his seat, a look of amusement on his face as he leaned against the console. “Sweetheart, I think you’ve been around Luke too long. The brain cells are starting diminish as we speak—”

“Fuck off,” you laughed with a shake of your head. “See, this is what I mean. You’re the grumpy cat.” 

“And what about me is so grumpy cat right now?” Quinn questioned. 

“You’re a rain buzzkiller,” you stated simply.

Quinn tried to fight the grin growing on his face. “And what would someone who’s not a rain buzzkiller be like?” 

He waited for your reply. He waited for you to come back with some witty retort that would piss him off and thrill him all at once. He waited for you to say something that made him want to roll his eyes and kiss you all at once. 

He waited, but instead he saw your hand reaching for the door handle and his eyes widened in realisation. 

“Baby—” 

But you were already jumping out of the car. 

It was just instinctive for him to jump out and follow. He was soaked in seconds, the rain still heavy and unforgiving and it almost made it difficult to see you, despite only being a few feet in front of him. He opened his mouth, ready to yell at you for being so reckless and to get back into the car, only to stop short when he heard you laugh. 

“Come on, Huggy!” You called out to the boy, your arms extended out to the side as you tilted your head back up to the rain. “Don’t be a buzzkill!”

“You’re insane!” He called back.

“Tell me something I don’t know,” you laughed as you reached out for him. “Come on, don’t leave me hanging!”

“We are going to get sick!” 

“Oh well!” You laughed, palm facing the sky as you grinned at him through the heavy rain. 

Quinn stared at you, a noise of disbelief leaving his own mouth as he took your hand and let you tug him towards you. Your arms seamlessly wrapped around his neck, just as his hands fell to your waist. And as much as he tried, he couldn’t fight the smile that grew on his face as you both began to sway back and forth in the rain.

“Isn’t this fun?” 

Quinn shook his head, not bothering to answer as he dipped his head down to press his lips against yours. Your arms tightened around him, a small moan leaving your lips as he pressed your body against his own. You were both soaked to the bone, clothes clinging onto you but that was the least of your concerns. 

“I’m taking that as a yes,” you murmured against his lips.

“You take it as whatever you want, baby,” he murmured back before he leaned down for another kiss. 

The upcoming storm and truck full of groceries were the last thing on your mind when you were kissing Quinn Hughes in the rain. 

…

The fifth time hurt like a bitch.

There was no sugar-coating. There was no exaggerations. There were no molehills made into mountains. 

It just fucking hurt and there was no way for you to get around that. 

After the storm had gone and passed, the group were eager to get back out into the world they were cut off from for the week. It had been Trevor’s idea to have a night out in the next town over. To have an excuse to dress up and head to one of the bars, enjoy the vibe of live music and chatty bartenders and friendly locals. 

And that was exactly what you all had done.

You dressed up. You booked the taxis to the bar. You did a round of shots. You made friends with strangers. You danced and laughed and sang along with the band playing on the small, makeshift stage. You ordered fruity cocktails that you missed during your stay at the lakehouse. You were having fun.

And then you saw it.

Logically, you knew you didn’t have any reason to really be pissed. He wasn’t your boyfriend. You weren’t his girlfriend. There had never really been a talk of exclusivity, but you thought that much had been obvious since you had spent most of your time at the lakehouse. There were no labels, no promises, no rules. You knew that. Of course you fucking knew that.

But it didn’t make the sight hurt any less. 

Quinn was leaning against the bar, a wide smile painted on his face as he chatted away to some blonde girl who was all but saddled up next to his side. He was laughing and talking animatedly and just…it hurt. 

It hurt because it reminded you that you were in no place to feel hurt. It hurt because you realised nobody else would understand the bitter feelings bubbling in the pit of your stomach. It hurt because the summer had shown you a new side of Quinn Hughes, and now you had lost him before you had even really had him. 

“Hey, you good?” Trevor questioned as he threw his arm over you, bringing you close to his side. 

“Hm? Yeah, just…think I drank too much,” you said as you dismissively waved your hand. You tore your eyes away from where Quinn stood at the bar and smiled softly up at the blond. “I think I might head back. I’m not feeling it anymore.”

“You sure?” Trevor frowned. “We can get you some water or—”

“I think I just need my bed,” you smiled sheepishly. “It’s fine. I can go by myself.”

“Absolutely not,” Trevor scoffed before his head darted up, his eyes narrowing as he tried to glance around the bar for someone in particular. “Where the fuck is Baby Hughes?” 

“Trevor—” You started, but the boy wasn’t having it.

“Huggy! Have you seen your little brother anywhere?” Trevor called out to the oldest Hughes, and you wanted the world to swallow you whole right there and then.

Quinn looked at you and then Trevor. His eyes glanced at the arm still comfortably wrapped around your shoulder, the way you were tucked into his side. For a moment, you thought he was jealous. 

“No, why?” He asked, his face remaining mostly blank. “Is something wrong?”

“Lady Hughes wants to head back to the lakehouse,” Trevor informed him.

Your nose scrunched up. “Lady Hughes?” 

“You’re a lady and basically a Hughes,” he said with a casual shrug of his shoulders. “It works.”

You snorted.

“Are you okay?” Quinn asked, stepping away from the blonde at the bar as his eyes glanced over you.

“Peachy,” you replied with a strained smile that only made his concern grow. “Look, it’s fine. I’m gonna order an uber and head back to the house. I’ll be fine.”

It should have been fine. You messaged Luke that you were heading back early. You had ordered an uber and Trevor insisted that he would wait outside with you until it arrived. It should have been fine. 

Except the boy had the bladder of a squirrel when he was drunk and was running back inside to go to the bathroom, promising he would be quick, and giving the oldest Hughes brother an opening to step outside the bar with you. 

Alone.

“What’s really wrong? You hardly drank anything,” Quinn said, his arms crossed over his chest and his worry evident in his voice. And something about it just pissed you off more. Something about his concern for you just made the sight of the blonde under his arm sting a little more, like salt in the wound.

“I’m just not feeling it, okay?” Your response was snappy, and maybe if you weren’t two shots and a cocktail down, you would have felt bad. 

“Woah,” Quinn scoffed and shook his head. “Sorry for caring.” 

And then the word vomit really started. “Do you really care?” 

The defenceman frowned. “What?” 

“Do you really care, Quinn? Because it didn’t look like you cared about much inside there other than the blonde you have been chatting up all night,” you commented coldly.

Quinn stared at you in disbelief. “Is this what this is about? You’re going back to the house because you’re jealous I’m not paying attention to you all night?”

You scoffed. “Oh wow.” 

“Am I wrong?” He snapped back at you.

“Yes! Deeply so,” you gritted through clenched teeth, and you hated the way your eyes watered with tears of frustration. You didn’t want to cry, and certainly not in front of him. “I just thought—”

“You thought what?” Quinn questioned, his hands now resting on his hips.

“I thought what we had was worth a little more,” you eventually spat out, with every ounce of self-control working to keep your voice from sounding too shaky. “That maybe you’d have a little more decency than to just flirt with some girl right in front of me.”

“We aren’t dating,” was his only response. 

“Yeah, I know,” you replied bitterly as the car you ordered pulled up beside you. You reached for the handle, already hating yourself a little more when you felt a tear run down your cheek. “I just made the mistake of thinking you were a decent fucking human though.”

He called out your name but you didn’t give him a chance to respond as you slid into the backseat of the uber car, slamming the car door shut and letting the tears fall as the driver pulled away from the sidewalk where Quinn still stood.

…

The one time you two acknowledged the mess between you was the start of a new chapter in your life, the start of Quinn Hughes playing a predominant and recurring role for the first time ever.

It was the following day after the night at the bar. The boys had returned somewhere after three in the morning, after the bar had presumably closed and they had been kicked out. You heard them coming in, heard their drunken giggles and horribly loud hushed voices. But you didn’t have the energy to do anything but lay in bed and listen as they all scrambled off to their own rooms.

Your sleep had been shit. Your thoughts had been running wild. And by the time the first rays of light were starting to peek through your curtains, you dragged yourself out of bed and downstairs to the kitchen. You found the biggest mug you could find, filled it to the brim with coffee and made your way to the pier outside. 

It had been quiet, serene even. The sun was beginning to peak over the horizon, painting the sky in different shades of orange, pink and blue. The birds were chirping, the wind was breezing in the early morning chill and it should have been perfect. 

But it wasn’t. 

It shouldn’t have surprised you that he followed you out to the pier. Quinn Hughes seemed to have a nab for knowing when you wanted to break the serenity and silence of a moment. 

You didn’t say a word to him, you didn’t even turn to look at him as he settled in the spot next to you and stared at calm water in front of you. You stayed locked in the silence, letting the sounds of branches rustling and distant boat motors accompany the quietness between you. 

It made you want to scream.

And then, he spoke. 

“Nothing happened between me and the blonde.” 

You didn’t say anything, but it seemed like Quinn wasn’t waiting to hear your response. Instead, he continued talking. He sounded frazzled, like the words were pouring out of his mouth and he couldn’t stop them.

“It wasn’t—” he paused, shaking his head. “It couldn’t even be like that even if I wanted it to. You asked if I cared yesterday, but do you wanna know the truth?” 

You remained silent. 

“The truth is that ever since the night at the fire pit, you’ve been stuck in my head. You’ve been stuck in my head and no matter what I do, I can’t fucking seem to make it stop.” He let out a dry, humourless laugh. “You’re my baby brother’s best friend. I shouldn’t be fucking thinking about you like that.”

Quinn shook his head. “But I couldn’t stop. I couldn’t stop watching you. I couldn’t stop thinking about you. And then I kissed you, and I knew I was fucked. Absolutely fucked because now I wanted the one thing I shouldn’t be allowed to have, so I fucking panicked and told you it was nothing because if I told you, then maybe I could trick myself too.” 

You finally turned your head to look at the boy, the conflict and doubts clear in your eyes but Quinn seemed to have a knack at reading you better than most people. 

“Baby, I couldn’t stop caring about you even if I tried,” he whispered, his voice cracking a little as he flashed you a sad smile. “We aren’t dating. We never were. But maybe it just scared me how much I…wouldn’t mind if we were, or we had, or—” He shook his head. “I was a dickhead yesterday and I’m sorry.”

“You were,” you said and something in his chest eased from just hearing your voice. “But I was a bit of a brat too. I should have—”

“We were both idiots,” Quinn murmured before laughing softly. “Like, really fucking dumb. But I know I care about you. And not just in a ‘we are sleeping together’ kind of way. I care about you more than that.” 

You wanted to say you felt the same way. You wanted to tell him the way your stomach flipped whenever he touched you. You wanted to tell him the way your heart stuttered when he smiled at you. You wanted to tell him you were addicted to his touch and obsessed with his kisses. 

But all that came out was, “what about Luke?”

Quinn’s brows furrowed together slightly in thought. “We don’t have to tell him. Not yet, at least.” He said, hesitating for a short moment before he extended his hand out to you, palm facing the sky. “How about we just try us for a little bit?”

Your lips twitched upwards. “And what is us?” 

“Whatever you want it to be,” he assured you. “Call me whatever you want, baby. Your boyfriend, your boy toy, your sugar daddy—” He laughed when you playfully shoved him. “I mean it.” 

“Boyfriend has a nice ring to it,” you admitted in a shy voice, your eyes on the water below your feet.

Quinn grinned. “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” you grinned back as you finally turned to look at him. You glanced down at his hand before taking it, intertwining your fingers together and squeezing softly. “I want to try us.”

“Then we’ll try us,” he murmured before leaning forward to capture your lips against his. 

And somewhere, deep down inside you, you knew it was wrong to keep it hidden from Luke. He was your best friend. He was your person. He was Quinn’s brother. He deserved to know. 

But maybe you also deserved to keep a secret or two from Luke. Maybe he didn’t have to know every single detail about your life. Maybe you deserved to have some fun.

Maybe you deserved to give Quinn Hughes a standing chance, just you and him and whatever the fuck ‘us’ would lead to.

.

#quinn hughes #nhl #vancouver canucks #quinn hughes x reader #quinn hughes x you #quinn hughes x y/n #quinn hughes fic #quinn hughes one shot #quinn hughes smut #nhl x reader #nhl x you #nhl x y/n #nhl fic #nhl one shot #nhl smut

[birdiewriteslit]

. “there’s nothing to worry about! my family will love you.” with jack!

and maybe jack has never really brought anyone serious to introduce to his whole family but she doesn’t know that… but hsi whole family can quickly see how much jack loves her

“meeting the family”

jack hughes x f!reader

birdie’s 300 celly

i LOVE this and this is kinda short so lmk if you want a part 2!

Jack would never admit it to you, but he was a little nervous for you to meet his family, especially all of them all at once.

“Bring your girlfriend to the wedding,” they said. “We promise we won’t embarrass you,” they said.

He knew his brothers would intentionally embarrass him in front of you, and even though the others wouldn’t make that effort, he still had never brought a girl to anything like this before, especially not one that he liked so much, and he had no idea how they would react.

It was Jack’s cousin’s wedding, one that he wasn’t particularly close with, but was still related enough to be at the rehearsal dinner.

Jack sat beside you, his leg bobbing nervously under the table. You placed a soothing hand on his thigh as you made easy conversation with Luke.

You met his parents and brothers earlier, and you hit it off easily with them. His parents had already told him how much they loved you. You got along great with Luke and Quinn, but they weren’t the relatives he was worried about anyways.

“So, Jack, that fall you took on the ice last week, pretty brutal. What’d you think of that, Y/n?” asked one of Jack’s younger cousins mischievously.

“What fall?” you asked, glancing at Jack in confusion.

“Oh, you didn’t see it?” he grinned. “He was skating a little too fast, and I guess he just lost his balance.”

“You can barely skate, Johnnie. Call me when you get off that bench,” Jack combated.

You ignored him, stifling a laugh. “Jack, when did that happen?”

Jack sighed. “At the Rangers game you couldn’t make it to.”

“Well, I bet you were glad I didn’t see that.”

“I was,” Jack said, glaring at his cousin who just smiled innocently.

Luke snorted into the beer he was trying to steal from Quinn, who was distracted talking to a bridesmaid.

“Give that to me, you’re not legal,” said Ellen, grabbing the bottle from Luke and setting it back down in front Quinn before taking a seat beside Luke. “And be nice to your brother.”

“Sorry, mom,” Luke mumbled.

Jack took your hand from his thigh and interlocked your fingers under the table. He watched you as you conversed with his mother, and how easily you made his brother laugh.

Your eyes were bright and your smile was big. He’d never thought you looked so beautiful. He ran his thumb over your ring finger and smiled to himself. He knew it was too early and he was too young to be thinking about marriage, but in a setting like this, it was kind of hard not to.

When he looked up, tuning back into the conversation, he saw the look on his mother’s face and knew she had him all figured out.

#birdiewriteslit #birdiewritesfics #birdie’s 300 celly #nhl #nhl blurb #nhl x reader #nhl imagine #nhl fic #hockey imagine #hockey #jack hughes #jack hughes x reader #jack hughes one shot #jack hughes blurb #jack hughes fic #jack hughes imagine #jh86 #luke hughes #quinn hughes #nj devils #nhl devils

[jackhues]

For blurb weekend, could I please get something fluffy with Quinn or Jack? Maybe Quinn or Jack taking care of his girlfriend who had too much to drink? 🤭

ooh, i love this! gonna go with quinner bcz i feel like i haven't written for him in very long!

"who's that? he's hot," you stage whispered to your best friend.

she rolled her eyes with a smile, your failed attempt at being discreet causing the 'hot guy' to laugh as well.

"oh my god, he's looking this way," you continued in your loud whisper. "don't look at him!"

your best friend tried to hold in her laugh, raising her hands in surrender and turning away quickly.

a tap on your shoulder caused you to turn.

"talking about me, are we?" the hot guy grinned cheekily.

"absolutely not," you pretended to look offended. "we were... i don't remember what we were talking about."

the hot guy tried to hide his amusement, "alright, i take it that's our cue to head on home."

"i'm sorry sir," you held a hand out. "you may be hot, but i have a boyfriend."

your best friend shook her head, laughing as she patted the hot guy's shoulder in sympathy. "yeah, i'll let you handle her for the rest of the night. bye guys!"

"c'mon y/n," the hot guy groaned, trying to help you up. "you're absolutely wasted, and i already know you're gonna have a killer hangover tomorrow."

"hangover or not, i'm loyal to my boyfriend," you insisted.

"i am your boyfriend," the guy said, exasperated. "it's me, quinn. remember? please remember quickly, i wanna go home now."

"quinny," you grinned, finally taking his hand and letting him help you get to your feet. you poked his cheek muttering to yourself, "wow, i have good taste."

maybe it was just the lighting, but you could've sworn he blushed.

"yeah, sure," he mumbled, leading you out and into his car.

he reached over, buckling your seatbelt and kissing your forehead as he pulled away.

"don't fall asleep," he warned. "i'm not carrying you inside."

"yeah sure," you mimicked his voice earlier.

quinn laughed as he settled into his own seat. you leaned back, smiling to yourself as quinn drove you two back home.

you were going to have a killer hangover tomorrow, you knew that. but right now, being with quinn, laughing with him, it was worth everything.

naqia's blurb weekend!

#naqia writes! #naqia's blurb weekend! #quinn hughes #quinn hughes blurbs #quinn hughes x reader #quinn hughes one shot #quinn hughes imagines #quinn hughes imagine #quinn hughes blurb #quinn hughes oneshot #quinn hughes oneshots

[lvrhughes]

Best Birthday Present | Q. Hughes

pairing: Quinn Hughes x fem!reader

word count: 2.7k

warnings: none?

summary: You take quinn around for his birthday before ending the night with him, becoming his favorite birthday present

not my gif!

3, 2, 1…

It was midnight. Officially Quinn’s birthday, where he was, peacefully asleep in his apartment and yet you weren’t. 

Staying awake, waiting for midnight to send the simple ‘happy birthday’ right away. Running over the final details of your plan for his day, the team wanting to do something for him and of course you’d agree. What kind of media manager would you be if you hadn’t? 

The team came to you because they knew you were good at planning, seeing how well you helped plan events in the organization even when it was up to another office. Quickly asking you to help plan a day Quinn would enjoy, making sure he’d have more than enough time alone, at home maybe talking to his brothers and parents. 

Your eyes scanned over the plan one last time, ensuring there were no mistakes. The soft buzzing of your phone brought you out of the trance, moving the day plan to the side to see. 

Quinn’s name covered the screen, his contact photo coming up beneath. 

“Hey Quinner.” You answered, seeing the sleepy boy on the other side of the call.

“Oh did I call you?” His voice was deep with sleep, proving that he had been asleep until moments ago. 

“Yes you did, why’re you awake?”

“Don’t know,” He yawned, “Thanks for the birthday message though.” He smiled, a soft, stubble smile that could’ve given any girl butterflies. 

“Of course, Quinny.” He always smiled at the nickname, glaring when anyone else would call him it. 

“Wait so why’re you awake?” He questioned, realizing he could ask that now.

“Oh, you know just working on some work stuff.” You could hear how terrible the lie was and when Quinn burst out laughing you knew how bad it was. 

“You’re lying.” He laughed, leaned up in his bed now, the blanket falling from his chest. 

“Me? Lie? Phft never.” You could see his smile even in the darkness, the light from your end reflecting on him. 

“Fine, don’t tell me what you’re doing, on my birthday, without me.” He played, clearly waking up now. 

“Can’t tell you yet, the team would kill me.” 

“So the teams’ in on it too!” 

“I already said too much, gotta go Quinny, sleep well, you’ll need it.” You grinned, quickly ending the call after. 

Another immediate call back from Quinn came right after, making you answer again. A smile on his face as you accepted. 

“Come on, baby, you gotta tell me!” He grinned, seeing the pink cover your cheeks at the pet name. Of course this wasn’t the first time he’d used it, nor the second or third, he used it quite often, purely to get the same reaction out of you everytime. 

“Told you Quinny, I can’t but just know, you should be up and out of bed by 11am.” His lips perked up further into more of a smirk at the words, his mind whirling with more questions. 

“And why’s that?” 

“We got a plan and a schedule we gotta stick to.” 

“Oh? And what’s this plan, babe?” 

You turned away at the pet name, tilting the camera to the wall as your face turned crimson. Quinn laughed, slowly you turned your phone back to you. 

“Goodnight, Huggy Bear.” You grinned, seeing the smile grow on his face before ending the call yet again. 

3am, just a few more hours, but until then you’d sleep. Setting the alarm for 9am and curling into your spot on the bed, falling to sleep quickly. 

“Ugh.” You groaned at the constant knocking at your door, quickly grabbing your phone to see the time flash, 5:42am, before walking to your door. 

“Whoever the fuck this is, you best have a death wish!” You groaned as you unlocked the door, seeing an eager Quinn on the other side. “Quinn?” 

“Good morning sleepy head!” He grinned pushing his way in. 

“How’d you get my address?” It seemed like a fair question, he’d never been over before and now he’s shown up at your door. 

“I may have paid Brock to give it to me.” He shyly smiled. 

“My golden retriever betrayed me!” The dramatic groan fell from your lips as you fell on to your couch, seeing Quinn follow you into the living room area. 

“Golden retriever huh?” 

“Yes, he’s blonde like one and quite literally gives off the exact same energy.”

Quinn shrugged, having no argument. Sitting down beside your fallen body on the couch, tilting his head to look at you. 

“What’re you doing here?” You asked, closing your eyes, fighting to stay awake. 

“I can’t just spend my birthday with my favorite media manager?” 

“No, not when you show up too early.” You groaned, rolling onto your side. “I want to go back to bed.” You sighed, opening your eyes enough to stare at quinn. 

“I mean you can, but then what should I do?” Quinn shrugged, waiting for a response to kick him out, to go bother Brock two doors down. 

“You go back to bed too, you were up at three am with me.” You nodded, getting off the couch slowly. 

“But that means going back to my apartment, so I’d have to drive back home, then go back into my bed that I just made,” His list continued, giving you a playful list of stupid reasons why he shouldn’t go back to bed. 

“Okay well, go annoy Brock or come to bed with me, take your choice.” You declared, your tired eyes just barely catching the way his widened at your offer. 

“You want to take me to bed?” He finally smirked, making you smack his arm. 

“Not like that you dick! Fine stay out alone on the couch, miss out on the TV in my room.” You mumbled, turning towards your room. 

“No, wait. I’m coming.” He said, quickly following you to your room. Your body quickly falling onto your bed, Quinn following behind you. 

“You have the other side, this is my side.” You shooed him away, waiting for him to lay beside you. As little as you’d been with Quinn his presence was always so warm, it was so easy to be with him. To act as if you’d been friends for forever and invite him to sleep in your room with you.

You passed him a TV remote, telling him to put whatever he wanted on, curling up into your side. His eyes lingered on your body far longer than they should've, seeing the rise and fall of your chest as you settled into a comfy spot. 

He chose a random show, one he’d seen before, too focused on you to watch anything else. The urge to reach over and hold you overwhelmed Quinn, fighting his own body not to. 

Until you rolled over to him, pressed against his body now, his arms instinctively wrapped around you. His eyes closed, feeling your steady breaths against his neck as he held you lulled him to sleep. 

Needless to say when more knocking on your door appeared at 8:56, neither of you were impressed. Groaning and hiding your face in Quinn’s chest before realizing that he was not your pillow. 

“G’morning.” He whispered, his voice raspy from sleep.

“Morning, birthday boy.” You grinned before the knocking continued. “Ugh, you think if we just ignore them they’ll go away?” 

Quinn shook his head, smiling at your unimpressed attitude to get up.

“You know they won't.” 

“But I could hope.” An odd silence came after, then the sound of your door opening. “I didn’t lock it after you showed up.” You groaned, hearing that they’d learned that information. 

The patter of half the team’s footsteps lead up to your door, seeing it slowly open and Brock’s head peek through. A confused look crossed his face before being pushed into the room by the other members of the team. 

“You’re sleeping with Quinn?” Elias asked, straight forward, making you groan again and hide under the blanket. 

“You’d think if they were sleeping together they wouldn’t have clothes on dumbass.” Brock pointed out. 

“I am not sleeping with Quinn!” You mumbled, peeking out from the blanket to see an amused look on Quinn’s face. “You stop looking so happy.” You glared, seeing quinn put his hands up in false surrender. 

“But technically, you are sleeping with me.” He grinned, making you smack his arm, his hand reaching out to grab yours. 

“You are only in here because you didn’t want to be alone on my couch when you showed up at 5am!” 

The rest of the team slowly piled into your room, some of them immediately turning out at the scene of their captain and media manager in the same bed. 

“We came over to go over the plan, we didn’t know he’d be here.” Brock admitted, seeing the written out plan on your desk, grabbing it and Elias’ arm and leaving. He herded the rest of the team out, informing you they’d be waiting in your living room. 

“I can’t believe you.” You shook your head at Quinn, who still had a smile on his face. 

“What? You don’t want the team to think you're sleeping with their captain?” 

“No, I do not. Not when I’m not actually sleeping with him!” The smile stayed on his face as you got up, leaving the warmth of your bed to search for more appropriate clothes for the day. 

“You could be.” You froze at the words, turning to Quinn, who still laid in your bed. 

“What?” 

“Nevermind.” He quickly brushed off, getting out of your bed and folding the blanket up. “I’ll go so you can get changed.” He smiled, walking out without another word. 

You walked out of your room, equipped in better attire now. The entire team was squished in your living room, listening to Quinn tell some random story while Brock tried to figure out your coffee machine. 

“Do you need help?” You grinned at Brock, who was taking his best guess and pushing random buttons. 

“Yes, badly.” So you taught him, which buttons to push and how much water to put in. Letting the coffee brew quietly behind you as you leaned on the counter listening to Quinn. 

The next hour was spent making many pots of coffee, your fridge being emptied out by the team, with a promise to restock it for you, and even more stories from various team members. 

Then it was time for the first part of the plan. Take Quinn mini-golfing. 

Without telling him where you all were taking him, getting him to agree to go was a little harder, but manageable. More manageable when you took his keys from his pocket and made him sit in the passenger seat before you took his car without him. 

“Mini-golf?” He grinned as he saw the sign, looking over at you driving. 

“Yes, this is the first part of your birthday surprise from the team.” You smiled at him, parking his car beside Brock before getting out. 

“Can I have my keys back?” Quinn asked, reaching for them in your hand. 

“No, we have more places after.” He shook his head, laughing at the sight of you holding his keys behind your back. “Now, let’s go play!” 

The game went good, the team split into groups to play sections of the course at a time, Quinn being the winner of your group. 

“We let you win.” Elias mumbled, making you nod along. Quinn almost burst out laughing at the sight, letting out a strangled sound instead, his heart filled with joy. 

“Sure sure.” He grinned, getting a light smack from Elias. 

The entirety of the game had taken three hours, being slowed down by all the laughing and horribly missed shots. 

2pm, just in time for the matinee. Getting the theatre to agree to replay Quinn’s favorite movie had been a bit harder of a task, needing approval from canucks admin to use team money to do so. But it was approved. 

So once again you were driving Quinn’s car, him in the passenger seat, staring at you the entire drive, bringing him to another mystery destination.

“Where to know? More golf or?” He asked, staring at you in the mirror. 

“You’ll find out in a minute.” He rolled his eyes, returning back to staring at you. “Why’re you staring, Quinny?”

“Can’t I stare at a beautiful girl?” Blush covered your cheeks, making you attempt to smack his arm for him instead to grab your hand. Holding it for the rest of the ride. 

“The theatre?” 

“Yep, come on!” You grabbed his arm, dragging him inside, quickly running into the line for concession. “What do you want?” 

“Um-” Quinn hadn’t had time to answer before the two of you had made it to the front, letting you order first. Quinn nodded along, whispering to you that he’ll just steal your food. 

“Could you add another large drink to that too please?” You added at the end, Quinn sending you a questioning look. “You can take my food, not my drink.” 

He laughed, taking one of the drinks and following you into the room, the rest of the team trailing behind. 

By the end of the movie your head was resting on Quinn’s shoulder, his hand holding yours. Keeping his hand in yours as you left the theatre, leading you back to his car. 

“Can I drive my car yet?” He asked as you approached his car, making you shake your head. 

“Nope, one more place for the night.” He just nodded, walking to the passenger seat quickly as you slid into the driver’s. 

It was a short ride, arriving in perfect timing. 6pm. They had reserved Quinn’s favorite bar for the night, having it entirely to the team and other canucks management. 

“Happy birthday, Quinny.” You smiled as you walked in with him, seeing the decorations put up around the bar. 

The rest of the team followed shortly, ordering food and drinks, simply having a good time. Quinn’s face held a look of pure joy the entire night, keeping close to you, only disappearing when his brothers called. Yet he dragged you with him, pulling you down a random hallway for some quiet to answer the call. 

“Happy birthday Quinner!” You could hear the boys yell over the phone, Quinn thanking them before admitting how much he missed them. 

You knew Quinn loved his brothers, but you’d never been close enough to see how much. It was a heartwarming call, his parents calling the minute his brothers hung up, repeating the happy birthdays and I miss you’s. 

The minute the call ended your arms wrapped around Quinn’s neck, pulling him into a hug, his arms quickly wrapping around your waist. 

“If I would’ve known how much you missed them I would’ve tried harder to get them here, I’m sorry Quinny.” 

“Oh, no baby, it’s okay, don’t cry over it.” He smiled, a soft, gentle smile as he saw the tears welling in your eyes. 

“But you’re not with your family.” 

“But I’m with a very special beautiful girl instead.” He smiled again, wiping the stray tear that fell. 

It was like a magnetic force pulling you into Quinn, leaning in subconsciously until he pressed his lips against yours. Feeling your body melt into his, his arms around your waist, holding you against him. 

“I’ve been wanting to do that since I first saw you.” Quinn whispered against your lips. 

“Why didn’t you?” 

“Had to wait to get it right.” He grinned kissing you again. 

“Anyone seen Qu- Nevemind.” Tito’s words cutting off, wandering into the hallway. “I came to give you this,” He said, giving Quinn a small box as you hid your face in his chest. “Please don’t mind me, return to whatever I interrupted.” He laughed when he walked away, making you groan and lean further into Quinn. 

“Oh no, I didn’t get you a present.” The realization hit you as Tito walked away, leaving you staring at the box he handed Quinn. 

“I think you being my girl now is the best present ever.” Quinn smiled, his hand pressed into the small of your back as he turned, pressing you against the wall. 

“Yeah? So I’m your girl now?” 

“If you want to be.” 

“I want to be.”

#mads' writing! #quinn hughes #nhl imagine #quinn hughes x reader #quinn hughes imagine #hughes brothers #nhl one shot