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#ryan graves imagine
laurenairay · 6 months
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When the time is right - R. Graves
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Summary: the start of the relationship between Ryan Graves and the woman who stole his heart, Soren.
Words: 2k
Warnings: spicy implications, mentions of a bet, Ryan has not been traded.
A/N: Happy early birthday @tippedbykreider! 🎉🎉🎉 I wanted to write you a little something, so here’s an ode to our love of the Prettiest Vampire – it’s just short fic from the much longer story I’ve been writing forever, for Ryan Graves and my OC Soren. I hope you enjoy this and I hope you have a wonderful birthday!
Title from; Afterlife, by Avenged Sevenfold
~~~
“Are you ever going to make a move?”
Ryan choked on his drink, turning to look at Dougie, who was snickering at his reaction.
“What?” he asked, wiping his mouth dry with the back of his hand.
“Are you ever going to make a move on her? You two have been flirting non-stop since Bratter’s girl introduced her to the group, and I’m not the only one who’s noticed,” Dougie mused.
Ryan’s breath hitched in his throat at his friend’s words, loud enough that Dougie’s amused expression shifted into a smirk, to which Ryan just groaned. His eyes shifted across the room to land on the girl in question. Soren. The day that Nicole had brought her along with them to a team gathering, Ryan had been lost. It was cheesy really, almost feeling like a romcom doomed to fail, but every time he looked at her he got butterflies, and all he wanted to do was make her smile. Ryan wasn’t going to lie to himself – he knew exactly how he felt about Soren in all her gothic witchy beauty. He thought he’d been low-key enough to keep his composure, but if Dougie was saying he hadn’t?
“You’re not the only one who’s noticed?” Ryan sighed.
“Well at least you’re not lying in protest,” Dougie grinned, “and no, I’m not the only one. There’s even a bet going on whether or not you’ll actually man up and tell her how you feel.”
Of course there was a bet. Of course. He could only imagine how high the pot money was, if Dougie of all people was pushing this.
“Let me guess, your betting time is coming to an end and you want your winnings?” Ryan said dryly.
“Aww you do know me,” Dougie grinned, unashamed, making Ryan snort, “But seriously, talk to her. It’s dumb that you haven’t already, and if you wait around, someone else will snap her up. She likes you, you like her, you’ll make cute gothic babies.”
One step at a time.
But maybe Dougie had a point. The last thing he wanted was for someone else to sweep Soren off her feet. She deserved to get treated like the queen she was, and if he didn’t step up to the plate, ruining any chance he had with her? No, he couldn’t bear the thought. Maybe Dougie was right – he needed to say something, before it was too late.
“Oh I know that look. You’re planning. What are you planning?” Dougie teased.
“You’re the worst, go away,” Ryan muttered, pale cheeks flushing.
“Nuh uh, I need to make sure you actually go through with this so I can get the $5k I’m owed,” Dougie shrugged, smirk returning slightly.
5000 dollars. Holy shit. That’s ridiculous.
“You guys have way too much time on your hands,” Ryan groaned.
“Yes we do,” Dougie said seriously, before breaking the façade with a snort, “Go and talk to her, Gravy, really. I’ll even throw a couple of bottles of Sangiovese in as congratulations.”
So not fair dangling his favourite wine out like a carrot on a stick.
“How generous,” Ryan said dryly.
But as his gaze drifted back across the room to where Soren stood, he found himself locked on her as she threw her head back laughing, her long dark wavy hair swaying, the girls around her all laughing just as hard. She was perfect. Perfect for him. Could it really be that easy to just go over and talk to her?
“All jokes aside, I know that you’re serious about her. And anyone with eyes can see she’s the same with you. Take the risk, Gravy. You won’t regret it,” Dougie said, expression losing all humour to be replaced with the warmth that Ryan had grown to appreciate.
“Yeah. You’re right. What have I got to lose, right?” Ryan said, huffing out a laugh.
Other than, ooh, his dignity?
“Atta boy,” Dougie grinned, slapping Ryan hard enough on the shoulder for him to stumble slightly.
How had he managed to get himself in such a ridiculous situation?
Never let it be said that Ryan Graves was a quitter. He finished the last mouthful of his beer, placing the empty glass down with a thump, earning a whoop from Dougie. Ridiculous. Here goes nothing.
~~~
“Well Dougie looks hyped up about something.”
Soren startled slightly at Nicole’s words, hand coming up to rest over her heart as her friend cackled, before her eyes flickered over in Dougie’s direction. Well, it wasn’t like she was going to lie about knowing exactly where Dougie was, because he was standing right next to Ryan – and any of the girls with half a brain knew that she had a ridiculous crush on him.
How could she not?
Ryan was sweet, and kind, and charming, and endearing in all his awkwardness, and so damn hot with all his flirting. He was the most complex layered person she had ever met, but damn it she was enjoying slowly peeling back each layer to learn more. She’d been nervous, all those months ago, when Nicole had invited her along to a team gathering, but the moment she’d met Ryan? She felt like she was home. There was just such an instant spark, an intense attraction that she had never bothered to deny, but the longer that she spent in his company that he didn’t make a move on her, the harder it was to keep those butterflies filled with hope.
Because there was no way Soren was going to be the one to confess first. Nicole (and Jesper) had assured her that Ryan absolutely had feelings for her, but she’d been burned too hard in the past. She just couldn’t put her out there again without knowing for sure. So she just held on to the hope that one day, Ryan would say or do something to convince her that her friends weren’t crazy, that she wasn’t crazy. It was all she could do. Well, other than continuing to flirt with him, of course – she wasn’t passing that up for anything. Having his sweet smile, intense dark eyes, beautiful face looking at her? All that attention? No, she wanted to keep that, thank you very much.
If she’d put on her favourite figure-hugging black velvet dress just to catch his eye tonight? Well, that was just for her knowledge.
“Oh shit he’s coming over.”
Nicole’s voice again drew her out of her thoughts, but it was the gasp and light slap on her arm that made Soren look back over properly.
Ryan was walking over to them. Nicole wasn’t wrong. He’d never looked at her like that before either.
“Hi Soren. Ladies,” he said softly.
Despite him addressing the whole group, his eyes only looked at her, something which Nicole clearly noticed.
“I think I could do with a drink. See you Gravy.”
Soren couldn’t help but laugh at the lack of subtlety as her friend dragged the rest of the girls away, Ryan just flushing slightly. Her laugh softened into a smile when Ryan rubbed the back of his neck, clearly nervous about something. What did he have to be nervous about? It was just her.
“You and Dougie looked like you were having fun,” she mused.
Ryan huffed out a laugh, shrugging his agreement. “He’s an idiot, but we keep him around anyway.”
Soren couldn’t stop the laugh that spilled from her lips at Ryan’s blunt words, Ryan’s responding smile giving her the usual butterflies.
“Are you having a good night?” he asked.
“Better now you’ve finally come over,” she grinned.
She really couldn’t help but to flirt with him – it just came out so naturally. How could it not? It wasn’t exactly a secret that she was interested in Ryan Graves, not in their circle of friends, so why would she hold herself back?
“You were having fun with the girls, I didn’t want to interrupt,” he said, shaking his head as he laughed, although his cheeks flushed slightly at her flirting.
“Better late than never, I suppose,” she teased.
He flushed a little more, the pink trailing down his neck and below his shirt. A wicked part of her wanted to know exactly how far that blush travelled. Her strands of dignity just kept her thoughts as a smile.
Then he cleared his throat, smile shifting to something a little more serious, making her breath hitch in her chest. She’d never seen such an intense look on his face before, at least not around her.
“Soren, I…”
He trailed off, huffing out a frustrated breath, sending a pang through her chest. So she rested a hand lightly on his arm, trying to encourage him. The audible shaky breath he inhaled just intrigued her a little more.
“Is everything okay, Ryan?” she asked softly, smiling.
“Y-Yeah, of course,” he said, nodding.
“Really? Because you look like you have something to say and you’re not quite sure how to say it,” she said, teasing only slightly.
He laughed, shaking his head in amusement. “How do you know how to read me so well?”
“Lucky guess?”
“No guessing about it,” he shot back, smiling, “There is something I want to say. And I don’t know how to say it.”
His admission made those pesky butterflies flair up once more, so Soren just squeezed his arm where her hand was still resting, before letting him go.
“Did you want to go somewhere a little quieter? Would that help?” she offered.
She didn’t realise how it sounded until Ryan blushed furiously, a flush spreading lightly across her own pale cheeks in turn.
“I didn’t mean any funny business?” she said, a little awkward.
Trust her stupid mouth to run. For once, she hadn’t actually been flirting or making any innuendo.
“I wouldn’t mind a little funny business.”
Oh.
Oh.
His murmured words made her breath hitch in her throat, her lips parting in surprise. When Ryan’s eyes dropped to her parted lips, despite his blush, she knew that he’d meant his hushed words. She was going to take this chance and run with it.
“I think we should get out of here. Have a proper…discussion,” she said softly, almost like a purr.
The soft whimper Ryan made was everything.
“Yeah, lets go. To talk. My place?”
~~~
“I thought…you wanted…to talk?”
Soren managed to gasp those words out between fierce kisses, clutching at Ryan’s back where he’d pushed her into his hallway wall. Ryan groaned in protest, breaking the kiss reluctantly to stare down at her. He didn’t stop pressing her full-body into the wall though.
“Now is not the time to tease me,” he murmured, eyes dark and warning.
She grinned at the promise in his gaze, just making him groan again before moving to kiss down her throat.
“How about I do some guesswork, and you can tell me if I’m wrong?” she laughed.
Ryan hissed out a yes, nipping her earlobe to affirm.
“In the bar, you were going to ask me out on a date. Something just the two of us. Something that Dougie was teasing you about. Something to fulfil the bet people don’t think I know about. Am I wrong?”
It was a gamble, being so brazen with her words. But she’d never shied away from a challenge before and she wasn’t about to start now. Ryan immediately froze though, lifting his head sharply away from her neck, looking down at her with panic.
“I had no idea about the bet until literally just before I came over to you. I swear,” he said firmly, almost desperately.
Bless his heart.
“Oh sweetheart, I know that. Jack can’t keep his mouth shut and he doesn’t exactly have a quiet volume setting,” she mused.
The relief that spread across his face was almost comical, but it settled something in her too. He wanted this. He wanted them. And he wanted her to know that, right?
“Do you want me, Ryan?” she asked, walking her fingers up his chest.
His breath shuddered at her teasing touch, but he nodded without hesitation.
“I do. I do want you, Soren. So much,” he said, eyes wide and earnest.
That was all she needed to hear.
Soren grinned slowly, making him watch her satisfaction, and he stood so still that he was practically shaking as leant up on her tiptoes to whisper in his ear. “If you want me, take me.”
It was all Ryan could do to groan and capture her lips in another kiss.
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offside-the-lines · 1 month
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Is it Love, Actually? | Ryan Graves
Summary: Mia and Ryan try to prove a point when watching Love Actually. It's just not the point they were trying to prove.
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This was written for @wyattjohnston's Lowkey Lovefest 2k24. The prompt used: “Are you about to monologue your feelings for me?” Pairing: Ryan Graves x Fem!OC (Childhood best friend/Roommate) Word count: 1.5k Warnings: things get a little steamy but doesn't venture into explicit. I'm sorry if you like Love, Actually; our OC and dearest author does not. a/n: Thanks to Demi for making this fun event and also requesting this duo. Thanks to @imperatorrrrr for being my ideation co-pilot. Requests (open) | Masterlist & Who I Write For | Join My Taglist
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“Okay, no,” Mia screeches, throwing popcorn at the TV, “No! Pause— Pause it!”
Ryan looks over at her, eyebrow cocked. She’s kneeling on the couch facing him, arms gesticulating wildly.
“What the fuck, Ryan? That is so fucked up! That is supposed to be his best friend’s wife! Who does that?”
She can tell he’s fighting down a laugh; his lips are pressed together in a thin line, but his eyes are telling her he’s amused. 
“Ryan!!!” she whines, “I’m serious. This is an affront to art.”
“I’m not sure romcoms count as art,” Ryan offers.
“Okay, not the point. But like, why do people think this movie is romantic at all? This guy is so fucking creepy. He records the creepiest fucking footage of her at her wedding. Like, is that for his spank bank? Why did he do that? And then this!” She points dramatically at the frozen image of Mark and Juliet kissing. “Why is she into this? It’s so fucked up! Have they ever even talked to each other? Or does he just think she’s hot? And why is she rewarding this? At no point has she even seemed like she was into him. And like, fuck the other guy— Peter?— I guess?”
She groans loudly before flopping back onto the couch and grabbing another handful of popcorn from the bowl in Ryan’s lap.
“You know, we don’t have to watch this, Mia,” he chuckles.
“I know,” she grumbles through her mouthful of popcorn, “Mama didn’t raise no quitter, though. So you’re just going to have to open another bottle of wine and sit through my complaints.”
Ryan snorts, shaking his head, “I mean, devil’s advocate, two people can totally have a meaningless kiss, though.”
She shoots back up and glares at him, “Ryan, you can’t possibly believe that.”
“I mean, I don’t. But, like, a kiss doesn’t have to mean something,” he shrugs.
She turns to face him, unimpressed. “So you’re telling me that there’s no difference between this—” she kisses him on the cheek— “and this?” She kisses him on the lips, just the lightest brush of her lips against his. 
Mia feels him freeze next to her, and she pulls away so fast she almost falls off the couch. He reaches out and catches her before she can hurt herself. They stay locked, his hands gripping her arms, frozen a foot apart from each other. She feels like all the oxygen has been sucked out of the room; if she could look away from him, she would check to make sure that the clock is still ticking and the world is still moving.
“I’m sorry, Ry, I have no idea why I did that,” she mumbles. Her head suddenly feels like it’s swimming in the four glasses of wine she’s had.
He seems to snap awake at that moment and he lets out a short laugh, his long hair shaking as he tips his head back. “Oh, come on, Mimi, it’s not like we didn’t play spin the bottle all the time in high school.”
She snorts, her shoulders loosening a little, “Yeah, true.”
His hands are still holding her forearms; she notices how his fingers wrap over much of the exposed skin there. She suddenly feels very warm.
“To answer your question, no, there really isn’t,” he says, the corner of his lips tugging up into a smile, “However, there’s a huge difference between this—” he places another soft peck on her lips— “and this.” 
This time, he leans in closer, a large hand moving to the back of her neck to pull her towards him; his eyes flicker between her gaze and her lips. It makes her swallow reflexively in anticipation. He pauses when they are less than an inch apart, noses brushing, giving her an opportunity to pull away. 
She closes her eyes and feels the moment they touch. Ryan’s lips capture hers with purpose this time, and she can’t help but let her lips part slightly under the pressure. She feels a jolt of electricity in the places their bodies meet as his tongue brushes against her bottom lip. The moment she lets him in, the hot glide of their tongues becomes overwhelming; he lets out a small, choked groan that makes the breath catch in her throat.
She forces herself to pull away before she can do something stupid like climb into his lap. She leans back and places a smile on her face. Her eyes only flicker once to his lips, glistening wet and inviting.
“I guess you’re right,” she laughs stiffly, the sound ringing hollow in her ears, “You’re definitely a better kisser than you were in high school.”
That startles a laugh out of him, his face relaxing into a small smile. “Yeah, I’ve had a lot of practice since then,” he says with a wink.
“Ew, TMI,” she forces herself to joke, rolling her eyes and slapping his chest cheekily, even while something molten hot blossoms across her entire body. She settles back into her place on their couch sans wine glass. She’s probably had enough to drink today. 
He puts his arm back around her shoulders, cuddling in closely, before putting the movie back on. They finish the rest of Love Actually largely in silence, only interrupted by some snorts and huffs. She’s unable to focus on the terrible movie anyway; her attention can’t stop sliding to the feeling of his body against hers instead.
Mia remains deep in her thoughts, even as they go to their respective rooms and get ready for bed. She is distracted as she brushes her teeth and changes into her pajamas. 
Alone in her room, she still can’t stop thinking about that kiss. It’s frustrating because Ryan’s not wrong. They have kissed before. Many times in high school: spin the bottle, truth or dare, 7 minutes in heaven. It was never particularly good; it was more of an awkward mess than anything else. She had never felt that jolt of heat roll through her body before. What does it mean?
It could mean nothing; it probably means nothing. Ryan’s her best friend. They have been best friends since they were eight years old. She knows that it could be good, so good. Everyone always thought they were a couple, but they always joked about their terrible sexual chemistry. No sparks, unfortunately, they always said.
What if they were wrong? Do they owe it to themselves to find out?
Does she love him? She looks at herself in the mirror and cannot bring herself to say no. 
The Dutch courage still in her veins decides for her. 
As soon as Mia opens her bedroom door, she sees Ryan at the end of the hall. She knows instantly that he is thinking the same thing. People always joked about their telepathy. Best friends since third grade, they would always shrug.
What if it could be more? What if they did spark? What if? What if? What if?
She had to know. Just do it.
So, Mia runs and leaps into his arms. He lets out a grunt of surprise but catches her easily, his broad hands resting on her upper thigh as she wraps her legs around his waist. She buries her hands in his hair and kisses him without a second of hesitation.
The second kiss is impossibly better than the first. Their mouths tangle in a wet dance as they pull each other closer still. This time, it starts at the top of her head, engulfing her body in a molten wave of desire as it seeps into every corner of her body. Soon, she can feel the dull throb between her thighs.
She uses her hands, buried in his hair, to pull away from the kiss.
“Ryan,” she whispers.
“We should probably talk about this,” he frowns, his voice rough with desire. 
“Are you about to monologue your feelings for me?” she counters.
“I don’t really see myself monologuing, but I can try if you want me to,” he murmurs, chuckling lightly.
“Yeah, whatever, you can monologue after,” she peppers kisses across his cheek before taunting in his ear, “But first, I need you to fuck me.”
“Fuck,” he exhales like the air has been punched out of his lungs.
Mia leans back. “That’s the idea. Good, you’re catching up,” she laughs brightly before tugging on Ryan’s hair again. “Come on. Bed. Let’s go.”
“I should’ve known you’d try to be bossy in bed,” he muttered, no real heat behind his words.
“You’ll have to make me shut up then,” she challenges petulantly.
This time, it’s Ryan who leans in close, growling in her ear, “Oh, baby, I plan to. You can count on it.” He drops her on the bed with a smirk. “And then we can talk after— if you still can, that is.”
It makes every single cell in her body light up in a way no one else has ever done before, and she just knows that this is right— meant to be.
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Requests (open) | Masterlist & Who I Write For | Join My Taglist
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ilyasorokinn · 1 year
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Okay last one but Ryan Graves and tracing tattoos from the gentle prompts
Ily 💜
BEHIND THE TATTOO
thank you for all the ones you sent in bestie! this one is a little short, so my apologies.
"tracing tattoos" (from this prompt list)
"what's the story about this one?" ryan asked, tracing one of the tattoos on your upper arm.
"it's a butterfly. doesn't really mean anything. i thought it was since." you shrugged.
"aren't tattoos supposed to mean something?" he chuckled.
"not always. lots of tattoos i have don't mean anything. i just liked them."
"okay, what about this one?" he ran his finger over a cowboy hat on your wrist.
"for a taylor swift song," you answered.
"right, cowboy like me, right?"
"gold star for mr. graves." you joked.
"what about this one?" he asked. this went on for a while. you pointed to a tattoo, and you would give him the story behind it and he would listen to it, no matter how minuscule it was.
"what if we got matching tattoos?" he asked after he had gone through every tattoo.
"what if we break up?"
"are you planning on breaking up with me?"
"that's not the point, ryan."
"all right, fine. what if we got different tattoos together?" you thought about it, "i know you've been eyeing that little bumblebee." he nudged you.
"fine, but if we break up, i'm gonna blame you for this stupid tattoo."
taylor's 2.5k celly!
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matthewtkachuk · 2 years
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you can hear it in the silence - ryan graves
Four times you think Ryan might love you, and one time you know he does
pairing: ryan graves x reader
warnings: mentions of alcohol, a little angst if you squint, slight reference to cheesy romance novels - don't come for me for referring to romeo & juliet ok
word count: 2.5k
a/n: sorry this is a little bit late - i went to toronto, got covid, and then moved right at the end of the month and i'm a poor planner 3 @gravestrain i hope you love this!!! thank you as always to @antoineroussel for not only hosting this thing and letting me borrow stef whilst giving her an americanized name and the happy ending she deserves but also doing her damnedest to fix my grammar issues (you will have to pry my run on sentences and epithets out of my cold dead hands). special shout out to @danglesnipecelly for helping me pick a name for this bad boy and to @ryngrvs and @hotanddistraught for tryin' to help me put it into words. title and inspo is of course from the cult classic "you are in love" by taylor swift
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one: one look, dark room / meant just for you 
Ryan’s a friend. 
The first one you made upon your arrival in Jersey to be precise, and one who very quickly became your favorite of them all. Nico’s got good eyebrows and Jack has a sly smile and PK is always down for anything and Nate and Mikey are clearly in love—but Ryan’s easily your favorite. It’s a world you’d never belonged in before and yet one that you slip into without much difficulty. 
It starts with an invitation to sit with Nico’s girlfriend at the season opener and turns into a standing date that you only miss if you absolutely have to. The girls are fun, Steph most of all, but the other girlfriends and wives welcome you into the fray even though you hold neither title. You make it three games before Jack’s daring you to wear his jersey. Steph thinks it’s funny and Nico looks at you like he might know something you don’t, but then Ryan’s offering you his instead and you’d be lying if your traitorous heart didn’t wonder if it meant something more than friends.
You wonder that a lot, actually. 
Wonder if it’s just Ryan’s polite, Canadian nature that has him holding doors open for you and asking that you text him when you get home safe after a night out; wonder if it’s just something Ryan does, the way he memorizes your Starbucks order and knows your favorite ice cream and the exact right toppings to put on pizza; wonder if Ryan exchanges looks with anyone else—all raised eyebrows and laugh lines and upturned mouths.
The looks are secret, special. A million different words and thoughts and communications pass in a single glance meant only for you. When Jack’s being an idiot, when Steph and Nico are too cute, when you miss your drink with your mouth and end up with a barely noticeable stain on your shirt. They say things like: “are you overwhelmed? Do you want to leave?”, “are you feeling alright?”, “when was the last time you ate?”
Tonight the look is shared from across Nico and Steph’s living room. You’re being cornered by a guy who introduced himself as “The Devils Captain’s Future Cousin-In-Law” and who hasn’t shut up about the ACL injury that “kept him from going pro, but he totally could have.” You’re not entirely sure that cousin-in-law is a legal distinction, and you’ve met plenty of might-have-been pros trying to keep up with actual professional athletes, and so nothing leaving his lips is of any particular value or interest to you.
Scanning the crowd, you look for any reason or excuse to vacate the conversation, trying and failing to catch someone’s eye until Ryan looks up. He reads the distress call and rises to the occasion valiantly, all but pushing Steph’s cousin to the side in his over the top greeting to you. 
The aforementioned not-quite-major-leaguer grumbles, but quickly realizes he’s no match for the large defenceman, disappearing back into the crowd to probably find someone else to bother. 
“Thank you,” you breathe out a sigh of relief. 
“Anything for you,” is all he says before dragging you to the kitchen to make you another drink because you ‘definitely deserve one.’
“Steph, your cousin is fucking annoying,” you tell her later that night.
You fear it’s the wrong thing to say, are prepared to backtrack immediately at her shocked, silent face, but then she’s laughing. “Yeah, I know. I was going to go save you, but someone else beat me to it.” She motions toward where Ryan is standing across the dark room. You hiss and grip her wrist to get her to stop pointing, but there’s no use—half the team has looked over at your little commotion. It doesn’t matter anyway, though. 
Ryan’s eyes are only on you.
two: small talk, he drives / coffee at midnight
you: you up?
ryan: Is this a booty call?
you: *eyeroll emoji*
you: no, idiot. I can’t sleep 
ryan: Wanna go for a drive?
Fifteen minutes later you’re slipping into Ryan’s car in your favorite pajamas and an old hoodie. 
“Cute,” he chuckles, tugging on your flannel bottoms before you slap his hand away. 
“You’re one to talk,” you counter, lunging across the console to ruffle his messy hair he’s pulled back with a familiar looking scrunchie. “Is that my hair tie?” 
Ryan pauses mid laugh like he’s been caught red handed in a bank vault with a ski mask. A light blush coats his cheek and he reaches back as if to pull his hair done. “Uh, yeah. Did you want it back?”
A warm feeling fills your belly as you sit back in your seat, shaking your head. “Nah, keep it.”
He flashes that awkward grin at you and motions for you to put on your seatbelt before he puts the car into drive. He takes several twists and turns that you don’t recognize in the midnight darkness, each street sign and traffic light blurring into the next. 
“So where are we going?” You ask a few minutes later, fiddling nervously with the radio station, never letting a song play in its entirety as you search for something you don’t even know you’re searching for.
“I know a place.”
‘A place’ turns out to be a Dunkin’ Donuts beside a McDonalds and you laugh out loud when he turns into the first drive through. 
“You don’t like it?” he asks.
“I love it!”
He doesn’t even need to ask your order at either place and he certainly doesn’t take your offered wallet, just smiles at you and tells you that you can get it ‘next time.’
“Thank you for a lovely evening,” you tell him in a semi-sarcastic, overly-polite tone to mask the fact that this is one of the sweetest dates you’ve ever been on and it’s not even a date. Or, at least you don’t think it’s a date. 
The heated look in Ryan’s eyes when they quickly slide over to look at you in the passenger seat have you wondering otherwise. “Did you really think it was over?”
Twenty minutes later sees Ryan pulling over on a random dirt road outside of the city.
“Star gazing?” you ask, unable to keep the hope or the excitement out of your voice. 
He pulls a blanket out of the back seat and hops out. “C’mon.”
It’s now officially the most romantic date you’ve ever been on, cold McDonalds fries and watered down iced coffees between you be damned. 
“Look up!” He points to a shooting star blazing across the night sky. You do, your shoulders brushing against his and the moonlight glinting off the small pendant around your neck. 
He doesn’t kiss you that night, but you feel a fundamental shift in the energy of your friendship from there on out.
three: morning, his place / burnt toast, sunday
Burnt toast is a sign of a stroke, right? You wake up with a killer hangover and the aforementioned offensive smell. It’s undercut by what you hope is the strongest coffee known to man, and ultimately the promise of a caffeine fix is what gets you out of bed. There’s whistling too, you realize as you approach the kitchen, and it’s not until that whistle stops mid-note with Ryan’s shocked face that you look down at what you’re wearing. 
It’s an entirely-too-long-for-you red Devils shirt with 33 on the top right corner and you can only assume the number rests on your back too alongside his last name. It’s really not that different from the jersey you wear to every game and yet it’s completely different. More intimate somehow, despite the design being quite similar. The way his Adam's apple bobs alongside his suspended hand holding a bright yellow spatula tells you that you’re not alone in your thoughts. 
“What are you burning?” you finally break the tension with a joke. His shoulders relax before he spins back to the pan of slightly burnt eggs.
He drawls sarcastically, “It was supposed to be breakfast.”
The air crackles between the two of you as you eat silently side by side at the kitchen island save for the occasional “can you pass me that?” and “thank you.” You’re lost in thought, but so is he, contemplation written clearly across his face for you to read.
After breakfast, you put your jeans from last night back on, but you don’t change into the sparkly little top you were wearing, preferring the comforting cotton of the fanatics branded t-shirt. Ryan notices, if the way his eyes linger on the number at your shoulder is any indication. It sends a little thrill through you and reminds you of all the times you caught him looking a second longer and a touch heavier than just a friend would do. 
“I would stay for a second course of your lovely cooking,” you state with sarcasm dripping from your tongue, “but I should get home. I have a very important date.” As his eyebrows raise up toward his hairline, you find yourself stumbling over an addendum, “Uh, with my couch I mean. And Netflix. All alone.”
“Good,” he says quickly, before backtracking. “I mean, sounds good.”
When you smile at him, he relaxes but the tension doesn’t fade between you as he walks you to the door like the gentleman he is.
The kiss he presses to your cheek, right near the corner of your mouth is less gentlemanly.
“Text me when you get home safe.”
four: you kiss on sidewalks / you fight, and you talk
“Are you mad at me?” 
It’s the entirely wrong thing to say to your friend of six months turned… whatever it was you two were to each other. His shoulders are tight and there’s a stormy look overtaking his features.
“Am I mad at you?” Ryan is animated and incredulous in a way you’ve never really seen him off the ice. The fire in his eyes is one you’ve only ever witnessed right before laying a heavy check… or right after taking one from the opposition.
“Yes, are you mad at me?” Unfortunately, you’re the doubling down type 
“I am mad. And disappointed. And… and feeling pretty stupid right now!” He advances on you, but there’s nothing aggressive about his stride, even with the way his six foot five frame towers over you. It’s not aggression, but it is passion and there’s a wild frenzy about his actions. 
“Stupid? Ryan?” Your voice is so much smaller than it normally is, the dark tempest of your disposition tamed by your uncertainty in the moment.
“I lo-like you, okay?” He seems to catch himself, but you can almost hear the unsaid four letter word between you. There’s no time to dwell on it or to respond to the revelation, not with the way he slows his movements to step tentatively into your space, hands reaching for your hips and head inclining down towards yours. “As more than a friend or whatever we are. I think about you all the time. And you don’t have to feel the same, but it kills me to think of you going out on a date with some other guy.”
You’re at a loss for words—the combination of his close proximity and his unexpected confession has your brain all but short circuiting. Slowly, you speak. “I don’t want to date anyone else.”
“You don't?”
“Steph and Meg were just bugging me back there. They think it’s funny to poke fun at my lack of a dating life. Besides, everyone knows it’s you I’m crazy about,” you admit quietly. 
And just like that, right there on the sidewalk outside the team’s favorite bar, Ryan kisses you for the first time.
plus one: you’re my best friend
A road trip has Ryan getting in late. 
He’d told you that they’d had to wait for some bad weather to clear before taking off from the West coast and had offered to go back to his own apartment to let you get your rest, but you’d solidly turned that down. Besides, you were at his apartment anyway—his salary means he can afford the nicer things in life and that includes the most comfortable king size mattress you’ve ever laid upon.
You don’t regret your decision one bit. Not even when he flicks the light on in his bedroom approximately four seconds after getting in before softly apologizing and turning it back off. Not even when he stubs his toe on the dresser in the dark, a sharp curse escaping his lips without any fight. You don’t regret your decision, because after the minor interruption to your REM sleep, he’s slipping into bed next to you and pulling you close. After a long week apart, you welcome the feel of him around you and slip back into a peaceful slumber.
It could be only minutes later or several days—you sleep so peacefully when Ryan is near—when you’re woken up by the rustling of sheets and the cold absence of your boyfriend beside you. He’s sitting up in bed with the strangest look on his face. A mix of confusion and acceptance and peace alongside something else.
“Are you okay, Ry?” you ask with sleep heavy on your eyelids and weighing down your tongue. 
He doesn’t acknowledge you at first, so lost in the heavy weight of his own thoughts that you softly call his name again. This time, he turns toward you and speaks only a single phrase: “You’re my best friend.”
A single, simple phrase and yet, you knew.
He is in love and you are in love and you are in love with each other. 
Always a hopeless romantic, you’d devour cheesy romance novels as a young teenager, read thousands of books where the main characters risked everything for love. You’d always loved reading the dynamic, but you’d never understood it, not really. Not until now.
Not until your boyfriend all but declares it in the sanctity of your dark bedroom on an ordinary night just like any other. 
You understand it now, why Darcy bettered himself for Elizabeth, why Noah never gave up on Allie, even why Romeo and Juliet did what they did—even if it could have been solved with a bit of communication and maturity that two sixteen year olds were clearly lacking.
‘I love you’ is a phrase you’ve uttered millions of times in your life, but no I love you ever meant as much as Ryan’s quiet admission. 
“You’re my best friend,” you echo before pulling him in and kissing the sweet smile off his face.
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wyattjohnston · 2 years
Text
to hold your hand (would be the bravest thing) - ryan graves
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summary: the maritimes aren't large, and it's not even unlikely that Lily would know and be friends with nhl players. her manager doesn't seem to understand. (another summer friends-to-lovers fic?? in this economy??)
word count: 5,738
note: this is for the summer fic exchange, written for @ryngrvs. who else was i going to write for you, c? thank you to @danglesnipecelly for 500 words of text messages that helped teach me about the Maritimes and to @joshuaanderson for helping make sure this made sense.
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There was a serenity about the golf course that Lily had never found anywhere else. The calm air, the perfect grass and the time to herself were all precious.
The peace and tranquillity were destroyed by the golfers who had made it to the green she was near, especially when they knew her. Which was most of the time. Prince Edward Island wasn’t exactly huge.
Over the summer that all changed. Prince Edward Island overflowed with tourists as soon as June hit and it only got worse as the season moved on.
It was still early in the day, not even eight, when Lily saw the first golfers of the day—a trio of men who owned the best equipment, Lily could tell that even at a distance. From the same distance, Lily was able to tell that the three men had been to the course before due to the familiarity of their movements.
She waited diligently for the next swing to be completed—because ruining a game of golf was a sure-fire way to make all three of them grumpy for the rest of the day—before she raised onto her toes and waved broadly.
“Ryan!” she shouted as she waved before she raced across the green. It was wholly unprofessional and only something she was doing because nobody else was on the green—including her manager who was the only person she really cared about seeing her.
All three men were awaiting her arrival, Ryan looking by far the most pleased to see her whilst Sid and Nate were just amused by the sudden stop she came to right in front of them.
“You’re a liar,” she said, poking aggressively at Ryan’s chest. “You said you weren’t going to be home for another week.”
Ryan took hold of her hand, holding it to his chest to prevent any further poking. Lily didn’t put up a fight, she never did, and instead just looked up at him longingly, forgetting that they weren’t alone.
“It’s a surprise,” he said gently. “You love surprises.”
She agreed, softly, “I do love surprises.”
“I love golf—” Nate interjected, causing Lily to jump back. It took a moment for Ryan’s brain to catch up and let go of her hand. “—can we get this show on the road so you can catch up later?”
As excited as Lily was to see Ryan again, catching up was never best done while he completed a round of golf and she laboured away maintaining the grounds and collecting the golf balls missed by the person whose job it actually was.
When they arrived back at the clubhouse, where Lily was doing yet another job that didn’t fall under her real job description, they stopped at the maître d’ station.
“Did you make a reservation?” she asked, tongue in cheek, directing her question at Ryan because she would never dare say anything similar to Sidney Crosby.
“I know you’re really, really busy,” Ryan said, his eyes scanning the half-empty dining room, “but I was hoping you could do us a favour just this once.”
“I’ve been doing you nothing but favours since I was thirteen.” As Lily was speaking, she moved to pull out three menus from the station but hadn’t even lifted them when she was interrupted.
“Gentlemen,” said Gary, her new manager, as he stepped in between the maître d’ station and Ryan, Nate and Sidney. “Please disregard Miss Newell, we have plenty of space for you to eat. I apologise for her behaviour.”
“It was just some fun,” Sidney said gently, making eye contact with Lily and nodded as he did so. Lily nodded back calmly, but when she made her contact with Ryan her brow furrowed and her nodded turned into a confused shake.
Gary seated the trio, Lily watching their every move and rolling her eyes at how overly attentive he was being and stifling a giggle when Ryan pulled faces behind Gary’s back.
Another group of golfers came in for lunch and Lily composed herself, putting on her most professional-yet-friendly persona as she greeted them and led them to their table. She only looked away from them when Gary passed her, asking to speak to her when she was ready.
“You just let me know if you need anything at all, but I’ll send someone over to take your drinks order in just a moment,” Lily said to the table, smiling despite her confusion and wariness.
Gary was waiting, hidden away from the prying eyes of their customers, with a vicious scowl on his face that Lily had never seen before.
“Do you think that was appropriate behavior?”
“Do I think what was appropriate behaviour?” she clarified, only imaging the number of things Gary could pull out of his arsenal. It could have been from three days prior at the rate he was giving her a talking to.
“Treating guests like that.”
If she was feeling up to it, if her job wasn’t something she actually enjoyed, she’d feign innocence and ask which guests, but there was no point playing coy.
“That’s how I treat all my guests. We have a friendly rapport with everyone.”
“Not with the likes of Sidney Crosby,” Gary said firmly, and Lily couldn’t fight back the fake and sarcastic smile that grew on her face. “He’s not your friend and you should treat him with respect.”
“I think Sidney Crosby appreciates being treated like he’s a human being,” Lily said, the sweetness of her voice bitter.
Gary huffed and gave her a stern warning about respect and a thinly veiled warning that she’d be monitored for her behaviour. She barely resisted the urge to flip him off when his back was turned to her.
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Ryan came over after Lily finished work, or, more accurately, he was waiting for her when she pulled into her drive.
His car was parked there already and, seeing no sight of him, she bypassed the front door to venture directly to her backyard. Unsurprisingly, Ryan was sitting in the couch swing on her back porch, swinging back and forth idly.
“Did you come home early, or have you been lying to me for a month?”
“Lying through my teeth,” he admitted easily, slowing his swinging just enough for Lily to comfortably sit down beside him. “I thought you were onto me.”
“I didn’t even have a chance to think about it,” Lily said, crossing her legs beneath her and letting Ryan control their swinging. “I’ve been preoccupied by Gary.”
“Gary’s… Something.”
“Yeah, well that’s one way to put it,” she said, her eyes rolling in exasperation. She nudged Ryan with her elbow, “Tell me more stories about the kids you babysat.”
Lily listened intently, unbothered by Ryan repeating stories she’d heard throughout the year. Almost everything he’d told her was worth the repetition and had her in fits of laughter as the sun began to lower in the sky.
The beauty of her job was the early, serene starts which resulted in early finishes leaving the whole afternoon to be enjoyed. During the summer those afternoons were mostly filled with Ryan Graves, but all seasons involved her parents, her best friend Eliza, errands or sitting on her back porch and enjoying whatever weather had been granted to the island that day.
“How’s…” Lily slowed her words, desperately trying to come up with the name of the person she was asking after. Every female name she’d ever known immediately left her mind.
“You going to finish that thought?”
“I can’t remember your girlfriend’s name.”
“Bianca,” Ryan offered, unbothered by Lily’s admission. “I don’t even think we made that official. I thought I told you, sorry.”
Lily hummed, if only because she couldn’t think of anything to say that wasn’t a revelation that she never wanted to know about Bianca in the first place.
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Gary didn’t stop. She hoped that he’d just been having a bad day when he’d pulled her aside in the restaurant and yet, when she saw him next, he was watching her more carefully than he ever had before.
So much so that when she spotted the boys—accompanied by Brad Marchand—on the green a couple days later, she waved at them from where she was talking to another patron, and when she arrived back at the clubhouse Gary was waiting to chastise her for it.
“We talked about this, Lily,” he’d said, aggressively, well out of earshot of anybody else, whether staff or guest. “The rules don’t change just because you’re outside.”
As he was walking away, Lily mouthed to herself, the rules, trying to work out when he’d had time to re-write the employee handbook specifically to include talking to Mr Crosby.
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Lily made her way to Ryan’s for dinner, a not uncommon occurrence when he was home for the summer, and before she’d even sat down at his outdoor table he was asking, “You’re not working this weekend, are you?”
“Nope,” she smiled, giddy at the thought. She truly loved her job but everybody loved a break more. “Three whole days off.”
Even if the break was small.
She watched Ryan expectantly as he fiddled with the barbeque, waiting for the reason he’d asked and instead being treated to the visual of him failing to connect the gas tank.
She waited until the tank was successfully hooked up and the flame was burning before she asked, “Is there a specific reason you’re asking about my weekend?”
His smile was broad, not much different to normal but Lily knew him well enough to see the devious glimmer in his eyes. He made her wait until the steaks were on the grill, her curiosity piqued so much that she was practically leaning across the table by the time he spoke.
“Come to Halifax with me.”
Lily paused, then asked, confused, “You’re going to spend the weekend in Halifax?”
“Technically at Sid’s place in Grand Lake or wherever—”
“You want me to spend the weekend in Sidney Crosby’s house?”
“Yeah. He said it was cool if I invited you.”
Lily sat back in her seat, staring up through the veranda roof at the clouds passing overhead, a deep, full-bodied sigh leaving her body as the idea ran riot through her brain. It wasn’t as exciting or carefree as Ryan clearly expected it to be—he hadn’t stopped smiling.
“I can’t stay in Sidney Crosby’s house.”
“Can you stop saying his full name like that?” Ryan asked, his smile shifting from delighted to slightly bemused. “You talk to him all the time.”
“Small talk!” Lily sat upright, her hands coming down onto the table with a thud. “I can’t stay in his house knowing that, when I was in high school, I was convinced he was going to find me one day and we’d get married.”
“This is your big chance, then,” Ryan said, no hint of joking or irony in his voice. Although, the amused smile was well and truly back on his face. “You’ll be right inside his house, and you can charm him with your Winnie the Pooh pyjamas.”
Lily rolled her eyes, kept her mouth shut, and waited until Ryan had served them up their food so that they could continue the conversation while he wasn’t distracted by trying not to let the food burn on the grill. It was a good thing, too, when she heard some muttered swearing and saw some hasty movements only seconds before he threw them onto a plate.
He presented the steaks to Lily with a flourish of his arms, proud of his accomplishment even if it was the same accomplishment he made multiple times a week.
“I was seventeen,” Lily said, continuing the conversation, “and still thinking that I was going to marry Sidney Crosby.”
“I remember. You and Eliza had the trip all planned out to spend time in Halifax while he was training.”
“And then I broke my leg. A real tragedy. I can’t believe I missed my chance,” Lily said, completely deadpan.
Ryan’s smile was wry, the joke about marrying Sidney Crosby long beaten to death with no sign of stopping even after Lily finally met him. It was an easy joke, really, and a good deflection from other conversations about her dating life—about Ryan’s—that often went untouched.
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Lily tried very hard to keep her cool when Sid opened the door. Sure, she’d met him dozens of times before, had many conversations with him even, but never did she think she would be in his house much less preparing to stay for the weekend.
They followed Sid through his large house so that they could put their overnight bags down. So large was the house that Sid had at least two spare bedrooms for them to use. Sid left Lily alone after pointing out that the chest of drawers and closet were empty if she didn’t want to live out of her bag. Lily wasn’t worried about unpacking, so she sat on the edge of the bed and tried again to wrap her head around being in Sidney Crosby’s house.
“Lil?” Ryan asked, accompanied by a gentle knock on the door. “Can I come in?”
“Course,” she said, then added with a wry smile, “How the other half live.”
“Being the best in the world will get you this and more.”
Lily fell back onto the bed, staring up at the ceiling and laughing to herself with a shake of her head. She sighed, longingly, “Yeah, all this again in Pittsburgh. I can’t even imagine having this much.”
“Gotta do something with all that money.”
“I’d be madder if I didn’t know he was also a good person.”
“Still want to marry him?”
“No; I want to meet Kathy.”
Ryan stood off the bed, tugging on Lily’s skirt so she’d raise her head and see his outstretched hand.
“Come on. You can hold my hand so you don’t get lost in this mansion that’s smaller than Dogg’s.”
Lily took his hand easily, feeling the callouses of his fingers brushing against her skin, and slowed to let it go when they were on their feet because it would be weird to actually hold his hand as he gave her the tour of Sidney Crosby’s house even if she wouldn’t have actually minded one bit.
“When do you build an even bigger one on the other side of Nate’s?” she asked, looking out a window and seeing the house in question.
Ryan’s laugh was immediate, sharp, and self-effacing. “My next contract is going to be the biggest the league’s ever seen, just you wait.”
There was nothing Lily could do as they walked through the house other than forcibly keep her mouth shut so that she didn’t gape in awe at every little detail. There was almost nothing in the house that Lily hadn’t dreamt of for herself.
“I think Sid and I have the same taste in architecture,” she said as she eyed off the cornices.
“You should have taken your broken leg to Halifax that summer,” Ryan joked, running his hand across the balustrade as they approached the staircase. “This could’ve been yours.”
“I never needed anything quite as big as this,” she said quietly, unconsciously pausing at the top of the stairs to watch Ryan descend.
He stopped, halfway down the stairs, looking back at her confused that she hadn’t followed him down.
He tapped his fingers against the balustrade, slowly and distractedly saying, “It’s a bit over the top, yeah.”
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The house felt much, much louder in the dead of the night. For as grand and luxurious as it was, the sound proofing left something to be desired because every step Lily took sounded like thunder rolling directly above her head.
She managed to get downstairs into the kitchen without causing enough ruckus to have somebody rush down and opened almost every cupboard before she found a glass.
Much like the rest of the house, the kitchen was filled with appliances and furnishings that Lily could only dream of. The tiles were straight out of the folders in the hope chest she’d kept on the top shelf of her closet since she was ten years old. Even the barstools were the stuff of dreams and comfier than any she’d ever sat on.
“You look comfy.”
Lily jumped high enough to bang her knee on the underside of the Island, and she cursed loudly both at the pain and at the sudden appearance of Sid.
As she was rubbing, and twitching to distract herself from the pain, she said, “I just needed some water.”
“Do you want some ice cream seeing as you’re here?”
“You eat ice cream at three in the morning?”
Sid shrugged, trying to pass off his smile as innocent but it bordered far more on devious, “I have a sweet tooth.”
Lily knew in embarrassing detail just how big Sid’s sweet tooth was—from the confectionary filled bag after the wire was removed from his jaw, to nearly choking on an apple pie—but she just nodded politely and tried to keep the rubbing of her leg subtle.
A bowl and spoon appeared in front of her, soon followed by a tub of mint choc chip ice cream and an ice pack that Sid didn’t mention which she put immediately on her knee.
“How long have you known Ryan?” he asked, quiet enough that the room was hardly disturbed.
“Since high school,” Lily said easily. “We were sat next to each other on the first day and I can’t get rid of him.”
“Hockey players are creatures of comfort,” Sid said knowingly. “I don’t think you’ll ever get rid of him if you haven’t yet.”
Lily stared down distractedly at her bowl, “He can stay.”
Sid laughed kindly, careful to keep it muffled.
It wasn’t until Lily passed the mirror in the hall that she realised she was wearing her Winnie the Pooh pyjamas.
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For all the issues Gary had with Lily fraternising with anyone who had ever played an NHL game, he didn’t seem to mind the lack of work that went on just before lunch started at the clubhouse.
He sat by and listened, most likely just to gather intel on each employee, but they were smart enough to share just enough information in his presence to satiate his need to know everything whilst keeping all the juicy details from him.
That’s how Lily operated at least. She hoped the same could be said for her co-workers.
“A whole three days off,” said Nikki, with the same awe as everyone who worked a full-time week, “what did you do with yourself?”
“Normally, I’d try and do everything I don’t get a chance to do,” Lily answered, with the intention of expanding her laundry list of cleaning the bathroom, weeding the garden and… laundry. She looked discreetly at Gary as she said, “But I went to Halifax.”
His head tilted up. Lily suppressed a snort.
“It’s hardly a trip to the Amalfi Coast but I suppose it’ll do for a quick little getaway. Did you go by yourself? Or did you take Eliza?”
“No,” Lily averted her eyes, staring out over the greens, “I went with Ryan.”
The squeak Nikki emitted was so high pitch it made Lily twitch. Nikki was easily the best friend Lily had at work so she was well aware of Ryan and subsequently Gary’s entire problem. Everyone knew about Gary’s problem. He wasn’t subtle.
“With Ryan or just with Ryan?”
“Just with Ryan. We stayed at a friend’s house,” Lily said, the inflection not lost on Nikki who’s squeaking intensified. “It was the most insane thing that’s ever happened to me.”
“You should tell Gary,” Nikki muttered under her breath, leaning in close. “I want to see his head explode.”
Lily slapped her hand over her own mouth to stifle the scream that was seconds away from escaping.
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In the years since Ryan started playing with Nathan and worked his way into the Inner Circle, Lily had been watching from the outside. The invitation to dinner with Sid, Nate and their partners was brand new. She feared she’d be uninvited if she asked questions—that they’d realise that it was a mistake—so when Sid extended the offer when she spotted them on hole 7, Lily thanked him and agreed with only a brief look Ryan’s way.
Ryan picked her up that evening—which was an early start because Lily had to be at the course with the sunrise. She didn’t hear his car pull into her driveway because she was standing in her bedroom, spraying perfume into the air and walking through it, but she’d had her phone by her side for twenty minutes expecting him to call when he arrived. The doorbell ringing startled her.
She rushed to grab her bag and a cardigan and threw the door open and, because she expected Ryan to have retreated back to his car, she came to a skidding stop when his body was blocking her path.
“These heels might make me taller, but they do not make me stronger,” she grumbled, using her hands on his waist to push him back enough so that she could lock the door.
“You look nice.”
“I didn’t know what to wear. I didn’t want to look ridiculous compared to Kathy and Charlotte, but I think I went too far the other way and got too dressed up.”
“Lily, look at me,” Ryan ordered. Lily did so petulantly. “You look beautiful. Kathy and Charlotte have nothing on you.”
Behind Lily’s grumpy expression, she diligently fought back a pleased smile and tried not to preen as she left him on the porch to get to his car. As much as she wanted to impress Kathy and Charlotte, impressing Ryan was enough to deem the night not a complete disaster.
It took Ryan a minute to follow her to the car—he only started moving when Lily tapped on the door to get his attention—and he wasn’t very talkative on the short drive. Though neither was Lily, to be fair. They were nearly at the restaurant when Ryan’s hand moved from where it had been on the gearshift and covered hers where it was resting in her lap.
Lily said nothing, nor did she pull away.
She didn’t want to let go when the car stopped but didn’t want to be weird, so she squeezed it once lightly before they got out of the car.
They were the first to arrive and the weather was perfect, the wind had even calmed down for the evening, so they opted to wait outside rather than head into the restaurant. It was different than any other time they’d been out to dinner and Lily wasn’t sure if it was the way he’d complimented her or if it was the handholding or if it was fourteen years of potential finally catching up with them.
He was standing close, if it had been a real first date it would have been uncomfortably close, but Lily was happy to stand there, her head tilted up slightly as they talked in quiet voices.
“This feels—” like a date is how she would have finished if Nate hadn’t arrived at exactly that moment and made Ryan take a casual step back.
Lily at least felt more comfortable with what she was wearing, seeing that she was similarly dressed to Charlotte, and she squashed any weirdness from her and Ryan so that she could hold a conversation.
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Lily had barely set foot in the clubhouse when Gary called her name and pointed back towards his office. There was nobody else around to offer any sort of explanation, Gary wasn’t even supposed to be there yet, so she had to follow him cluelessly.
It made her feel sick to her stomach.
He held his office door open for her and gestured for her to sit in the chair opposite his desk—a formality she had never experienced from him before. Her stomach was in her throat as she waited for whatever he was about to accuse her of.
When he was finally sitting in his own chair, having remained stoically and infuriatingly silent until that moment, he asked “Did you have a nice meal last night?”
“Um, yes?” Lily responded, her head tilting.
“I would have thought Sims was a bit out of your budget.”
“I can afford to go every now and then,” Lily said, the tension in her chest becoming so constricting she didn’t know if she could breathe. “What does that have to do with this meeting?”
“I don’t know where you learnt manners, but you cannot sit down at the table of our visitors,” Gary said. Lily felt her eyes get even wider and her entire body lift out of her seat with every word he spoke. “It is one thing for you to impose yourself on them whilst they’re on the club’s grounds but to join them while they’re eating elsewhere... I really thought you were smarter than that.”
“They’re my friends!” she argued instantly, unable and unwilling to control the level of her voice. She was standing by then, close to leaning over the desk and shouting in his face.
Gary’s laugh was vicious, colder and crueller than any Lily had ever heard. His words even colder: “Just because you’re so set on getting into their pants that you can’t leave them alone does not mean they’re your friends. Your behaviour is unacceptable, and you’ve used up all your warnings. Your services are no longer required.”
“You’re firing me?”
“I suggest you learn some manners before you find another job and realise that none of those men will fuck you.”
Lily was halfway out the door, ready to slam it shut behind her, when she turned around just to say, “You’re the vilest human being I have ever met.” She then slammed the door causing every painting and decoration in the area to rattle.
She stopped for nothing on her way out of the building, not even her co-workers who had shown up while she was being fired and not even Nikki who was walking in the door as Lily was leaving the building.
The last thing Lily had expected, not that she’d expected anything at all, was to see Ryan walking towards her as she reached the parking lot. Uncertain of what she would say or do if she spoke to him, she walked straight past him with her jaw set and her eyes focused on her car.
“Lily—what—Lily, where are you going?”
“Home.”
“What’s wrong? What’s happened?”
“I was fired, so I’m going home.”
Ryan’s hands grabbed her upper arms, spinning her back around. He asked, horrified, “Fired? What do you mean fired?”
“I mean I don’t have a job anymore. That asshole in there thinks I’m being a puck bunny and he saw us all having dinner last night and apparently that’s a fireable offence.”
“I’ll fix it,” Ryan said firmly, raising his head to look at the clubhouse.
“Don’t,” Lily said, just as firmly, stepping out of Ryan’s hands. “I don’t want to work for him anyway.”
“I’ll fix it,” Ryan repeated. “I’ll meet you at your place with lunch.”
Lily walked off, not seeing any point or worth in arguing against it. All she wanted to do was go home and be standing under a hot shower by the time she started to cry.
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The shower didn’t do much to make her feel better and, in fact, the multiple missed calls from Ryan and the Golf Club’s Superintendent would have ruined any progress that had been made anyway.
She opted to call Dennis first, on the grounds that the sooner she spoke to him, the sooner she could have nothing more to do with any of the golf clubs on Prince Edward Island. So, in her towel, sitting on the edge of her bed, Lily clicked on one of Dennis Leary’s missed calls and put it on speaker phone as he was answering.
“Thank you for calling me back, Lily.”
“What do you want, Dennis?” Lily said coolly, she never would have spoken to Dennis in such a manner before but she was tired and uninterested in having any conversation about being fired. “I don’t work for you anymore.”
“Lily,” Dennis said solemnly. “I cannot apologise enough for Gary’s behaviour. He should not have treated you the way he did, and he had no right or authority to fire you. Especially not for speaking to your friends.”
“Who told you?” she asked, knowing that there was no way that Gary would have phrased it that way. He would have phrased it as stalking clients, as being inappropriate in and out of work.
“It was an anonymous tip.”
“Which one of them spoke to you? I know it was one of them.”
“Mr Crosby was very adamant that they would not be visiting any golf clubs on the Island if Gary’s actions were left unpunished.”
Lily let silence fill the air, every emotion in her body quickly morphed into rage. She tried to take a few, deep, steadying breaths but there was no calming down.
“So, this call is only happening because you don’t want to lose the boys?”
“I knew what I was going to do the second Mr Crosby told me that Gary had fired you. I would have made this call even if no threats had been made.”
Lily scoffed, “What exactly is this call?”
“You still very much have a job here if you want it and we should discuss a promotion to the newly vacant assistant superintendent position.”
Lily slumped; all her strings cut at once. It was what she’d wanted to hear for so long and yet it was the worst scenario she could ever have imagined—worse even—that caused it to happen. She took a deep breath and rushed to tell Dennis she would have to think about it before ending the call without waiting for a response.
Her next step was to send a text to Ryan saying if you want to come over, come now.
He did, too, arriving mere minutes after she got dressed. Unlucky for him, her anger had simmered over Dennis but it had increased tenfold even in the short time she’d had to think about it all again.
Ryan let himself in and Lily was ready for it, not even letting him greet her or take his shoes off before she was crossing her arms over her chest.
“You went to Sid.”
Ryan said, somewhat proudly, clearly not having gaged Lily’s hostility, “He didn’t take much convincing.”
“It should have been you.”
“I was going to right after I filled them in but Sid pulled rank.”
Lily’s arms fell to her side, a new thought crossing her mind and the sick feeling returning. The thought took over her mind and, even though she didn’t really want to say it, she couldn’t help it.
“Gary’s going to think I’m fucking Sidney Crosby. He’ll probably tell Kathy.”
Ryan laughed, and it caught them both off guard. Ryan was mostly just shocked at how sudden it had been whereas Lily was irate that he thought it was a laughable idea. She rolled her eyes, shook her head.
Ryan, to his credit, caught on at that moment, and asked softly, “Are you mad?”
“At who?” she asked, sarcasm dripping from her lips.
“Anyone?”
“Gary. Dennis a little for not even realising until Sid spoke to him. Sid for threatening to never golf here again instead of just saying what happened. You—” Lily stopped herself from saying anything further, not that the damage wasn’t already done.
“Me?”
She sighed, and though once upon a time the words would have been pulled from her mouth against her will, she was tired enough to say, “For not standing up for me yourself.”
“I don’t know what you mean by that.”
“I guess when you said you were going to fix it, I thought that it would be the grand romantic gesture that finally proved you loved me and that I’m not just sitting here like a fool waiting for something that’ll never happen.”
“Jesus, Lily,” Ryan said, laughing again though it sounded much less humourful than any she’d heard from him in recent memory. “You’re going to have to give me a few days to think of something else.”
“What?”
“I can’t just pull a grand romantic gesture out of my ass—”
“I don’t need the romantic gesture, Ry. I just… I just need you.”
Ryan took one cautious step forward and then another when Lily didn’t protest. As he was taking the next one, Lily took one, too.
His hands on her cheeks felt impossibly big, but it was a comforting feeling and made it all easier to push up on her toes and kiss him.
A kiss fourteen years in the making and it was soft, slow without any of the urgency Lily had imagined.
It was so much better.
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Lily had secured some time off before returning to work—two weeks—so she was using the time to spend time with the likes of Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon at bars, at night.
Ryan’s presence was by far the best part of the equation.
They’d fallen into an easy relationship, even if nothing much had changed beyond their new found willingness to be affectionate in public.
Nate argued that not even that had really changed, though.
They were cuddled up in the corner of a bar seat, Lily tucked comfortably into Ryan’s side, when Lily noticed something across the room. Someone.
She told Ryan to look in that direction under the guise of confirming her suspicions but she knew without a doubt that it was Gary.
“Do you want that big romantic gesture now?” Ryan whispered into her ear.
“No big romantic gestures that result in the police being called. I already know what I want to do.”
Lily waited patiently for a server to pass by, getting their attention after a round had been ordered.
“Can you please take a rum and coke to that man over there in the red coat?” she asked. ”He looks like he needs it.”
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Please consider leaving feedback - reblog and write in the tags or send an ask, I’m not fussed. I just want to know what you’re thinking!
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gravestrain · 1 year
Text
think there's been a glitch; r. graves
Happy very belated birthday to one of my favorite people on this app, @ryngrvs! 💖 from the bingo board I chose: you make me better, golden retriever and black cat, mutual pining, handwritten notes, and "I'll be right over." this fic is based loosely off of "glitch" from Midnights 3 am version. wc: 2.6k words :) cw: mentions of drinking/hangover, a few very brief mentions of bad past relationships
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Dougie Hamilton has not known Ryan Graves for a long time, but he knows that he has never seen him smile this big.
He wondered just how special you were, to turn his stone cold teammate into a personification of sunshine.
When he was asked about it at practice the week before, Ryan didn't falter, and was ecstatic to inform his teammates that his beloved best friend, (Y/N), would be accompanying him to the team's holiday party. Dougie elbowed Hughes when he opened his mouth to talk about Ryan's uncharacteristic date. Some guys brought girls they had been dating for only a few weeks, so what would it matter if Ryan brought his best friend?
And it truly wasn't a big deal. But the guys loved to pester and tease Ryan about his "best friend," who he insisted was platonic but had simultaneously melted the ice in his heart. The guys soon realized just how special you were, and suddenly it wasn't so surprising that Ryan Graves had fallen head first for his best friend.
Ryan Graves, who was rough around the edges and swore off love after a brutal breakup following his exit from Denver. Ryan Graves, whose smiles were reserved for cute puppies and the nice old lady who lived next door to him. Ryan Graves, who had contented himself with being alone forever.
You and Ryan had shown up to the holiday party in adorable sweaters, Ryan with his hand hovering loosely behind your back. The guys certainly did not miss the way he kept his arm around the back of your chair throughout dinner, and the way that his hand would touch your arm gently when he approached you talking to another teammate.
"Have you ever seen Gravy this happy?" Dougie wondered out loud to Nico and Jack Hughes as he sat down next to them, a fresh drink in his hand. "Dude, I've seen him smile more around her today than I have in the two years I've known him." Nico remarked to his two friends in front of him as they not so subtly analyzed yours and Ryan's behavior. "She's been cheesy as long as I have known her but this is different. It seems like she's genuinely happy." Jack had known you longer than anybody. You lived down the hall from him, and Jack had taken to being close friends with you. You and Ryan had ran into each other one day in the hallway while he was at Jack's place, and you had quickly become close friends.
Jack often joked that you would never know that you and him had been friends first because you and Gravy became attached at the hip immediately. Jack never took offense to it and neither did you, he was happy to see you so happy, even if you were clueless about your feelings towards your best friend.
You caught Jack staring and quickly stuck your tongue out at him behind Ryan's back. You were certain he was making cracks about your snowflake printed sweater, a stark contrast to Ryan's black jeans and dark red Christmas sweater.
You and Ryan were a glaring visual of the cheesy "golden retriever and black cat" duo. While you were sunshine and rainbows, Ryan was dark, reserved, and pessimistic. He had few experiences that made him want to be happy go lucky, that was until he had met you. Ryan quickly noticed your attention being focused behind him, and he turned around to find the source, not surprised when he saw you and Jack making faces at each other.
You quietly informed Ryan where you were going and slipped away to be with your mischievous friend. Ryan tried to ignore the pang in his chest when he acknowledged your words, knowing that you and Jack were strictly friends, but still being upset about your leaving him.
You slid into the booth beside your friend and raised your eyebrows at the expectant looks of the three men that were near you. "What?" You asked, taking a sip of your drink. "Oh, come on," Jack snapped back. When your face turned more confused, Jack continued. "You can't be serious. Did you see his face when you walked away? It looked like someone stole his puppy." He teased and your face turned burned in embarrassment. You sheepishly turned away, trying to get away from the boys teasing.
"You know he loves you, (Y/N)! Why don't you just take the jump. You know he's scared," Nico pushed and you shook your head. "You're crazy. Ryan loves that I feed his cat when he's on a road trip and when I do silly cheers at his games. He does not love me." You felt a growing buzz at the drink you continued to sip, serving as a distraction and a get away from their pestering questions.
"If you think Gravy would let anyone else do embarrassing cheers with rhymes at his games besides you, you're clueless. And why do you think he loves it when you feed the cat? Anyone else could do it, it's an easy job, but he just likes that you're the one doing it, no one else." Dougie came back and played with the sparkles on your sweater, not knowing how to deal with their relentless teasing. You knew it was harmless, but it still made you overthink.
Soon enough, the grump in question approached you, a fresh drink in his hand for you. "I brought your favorite in case you were low. Everything okay over here?" He questioned as he slid into the booth next to you, his fingers immediately grazing your shoulder. Jack elbowed you slightly at the contact, causing you to kick him underneath the table.
"Everything's fine here, they were just teasing me about my cheers." You diverted slightly causing Gravy to smile. "You guys are just mad that you don't have someone to do cheers for you at your games." Ryan came back and Jack smirked, a comeback immediately on his lips. "I have plenty of close friends, bud. Hell, (Y/N) was my closest friend until you came along. I just don't really have any friends that do cheers with my name and wait for me by the locker room even though I'm always the last one to come out."
---------
Ryan woke up the next morning to a knock at his door. There was a slight pounding in the front of his forehead, a hangover that always seemed to grow after team events. He blushed thinking about the comments of his teammates about you. Truly, anything that was said about you could make him blush. He brushed it off as adoration for his sugary sweet best friend and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, groaning as he slid his feet into his slippers and walked towards the door.
"Hi there, sleeping beauty." You quirked at him, two hot cups in your hand, your feet digging into the ground of the hallway outside of Ryan's apartment building. He wondered how long he had left you waiting there and ushered you in quickly, not wanting to be without you for another second.
"For me?" He asked with a slight lilt, his accent coming out more when he was sleepy. It made you warm on the inside and you took a sip of your drink to wash it down. "Funny that you're the one bringing me a coffee, it seemed like you were twice as drunk as I was." He smiled and settled into the couch on the cushion next to you.
"That's because that's all you can remember. Oh! I just remembered. It's coffee and pastries. I stopped at the bakery on the corner because the coffee shop was out of chocolate croissants." Ryan was certain that he had never had a friend who made him blush like that. He noticed that you two had been doing little things for each other more often lately, whether it was coffee on a hungover morning, or Ryan bringing you a water in between your drinks last night, which he had also been bringing you. You weren't surprised when you remembered there was never a Venmo request from Ryan for the drinks. He didn't even pause when it came to doing things for you, especially when it came to things as small as a few drinks at the party that he invited you to.
You tried to stifle a yawn with the back of your hand but you had no such luck. You leaned back a bit to nuzzle your face in the soft fur of Ryan's cat, and the fur ball beneath you didn't seem to mind it much either. "I swear he likes you more than me." Ryan joked and you let out a snort. "Only because I'm the one who feeds him when you're gone," you reminded him, quickly sipping your coffee in hopes to keep yourself awake. Truthfully, you were a bit hungover when your alarm went off this morning, but you pushed through to bring Ryan a token of gratitude for the great time that you had at the party. You could have fun in a field in the middle of nowhere, but you truly appreciated that Ryan wanted you around his friends and made an effort to keep you around them.
"Maybe it's your turn for a nap, sleeping beauty," he teased you with the nickname you called him earlier and you stuck your tongue out at him, not having the energy to come up with a comeback. "Yeah, I s'pose," you murmured, eyes already closing, holding up the white flag for trying to fight sleep, and Ryan. You knew you could have came up with a quip back, but you were just simply too tired. Ryan pulled a blanket up over your shoulders and that was the last thing you felt, falling asleep to the soft murmur of the TV and the cat snores that filled your ears.
You weren't sure how long you were asleep, but you guessed it was a while when you saw the sun was starting to disappear through the windows. You looked around Ryan's quiet apartment and you raised your eyes when you saw a bright orange post it note stuck down on the coffee table next to your phone and your now cold coffee from earlier. "Went to pick up some stuff for dinner :)" signed "Ry," which caused your cheeks to heat up. You knew he figured you would panic when you woke up and slip out, scared of intruding. You smiled his attempt to ground you and keep you in his space. You were excited to eat dinner with Ryan, although you were sure it would just be some sort of pasta, it always felt extra special when you ate a meal with Ryan.
You suddenly thanked yourself for deciding to put a tiny bit of makeup on before you left and retreated into the bathroom to fix your hair and face a bit before Ryan would come back. As you were fixing your sleep shut eyes, you heard a familiar voice from behind you, signaling that Ryan had snuck in when you couldn't hear him.
"Got a hot date tonight?" He smirked as he stared at you, fingers lightly grazing your back as he walked past you, causing you to almost choke at even the slightest of touches. "Ehh, could be better." you teased back and he gasped in faux disgust, fingers coming to dig at your sides in an attempt to tickle you, although it was mostly just poking and proding. "Can you get your hands off me? Your fingers are cold," you laughed as you shoved his hands away, trying to ignore the way that his touch made you feel.
"You're a piece of work," he mumbled under his breath, wrapping his arm around your shoulder and tucking you into his side. It wasn't unusual of you two to hold onto each other, but in this domestic environment you were sure your heart was going to explode. You tried to allow yourself to relax under his touch, but you had trouble, nerves getting the best of you. You wondered why you suddenly felt so nervous around Ryan, the person who made you feel the most safe in the world.
"Idiots in love," you could practically hear the grumble of the devil on your shoulder (both literally and metaphorically), Jack. You wondered when your feelings for your best friend Ryan had turned romantic. Maybe it was the soft touches and giggles like this, behind closed doors. Or the way that he was sure of you and protected you out in the public eye. You sensed that it was the way that even when the lines blurred, it all felt right. You were certain that this was where you were meant to be.
Idiots in love was truly the perfect way to describe this situationship you were in with Ryan. For weeks, the two of you made subtle moves closer towards each other, closer to closing that gap between best friends and lovers, and neither of you noticed. It felt so right and natural to fall into the most gentle kind of love with Ryan. As you buried your face into the crook of his arm, you knew that you were in love with Ryan. You didn't have to ponder about it or try to come up with a comeback like you did so many times when Jack and Nico teased you, you knew they were right. You weren't going to fight it anymore.
"I can promise you that three years ago, I would have never spent my day off cruising around town getting things to make you your favorite meal. Actually, I can promise you that I would have never gone into a grocery store on a Saturday if it weren't for you." You laughed from your place under his arm. "I would have never gotten up brutally hungover just to bring you a coffee when you have a Nespresso." You scratched at his side and he laughed back, laying his forehead on top of your head, allowing himself to rest under your touch.
"Is it really this easy? Can we really just switch to lovers so fast?" Insecurity and doubt started to seep in. You had never known love to be easy or as soft as it is with Ryan. "Loving you is the easiest thing I've ever done in my life." Ryan assured you, pressing a soft kiss to your temple. "You know you don't have to do all of those things for me. I know how much you hate the grocery store," you tried to change it to a more lighthearted topic, unsure of how to react to the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to you.
"I know, but you're turning me soft. I let some teenager take the last chocolate protein powder on the shelf, just because I wanted to get back to you. 4 years ago I would've been sick if I did that," he laughed, squeezing you impossibly tighter. But you knew what he meant, and you were grateful that you got the soft, gentle Ryan, although you can't imagine any version of him that wasn't.
"I melted your ice cold heart," you teased, looking up at him. "Yeah, you did." He smiled softly and touched his hand to your cheek. You knew in that moment that once your lips touched his, everything would change. Your relationship with Ryan wouldn't be platonic, and while that scared you, you had never been so excited for something in your life. And when you leaned in and pressed your lips to his, he was sure he could feel the last of the walls around his heart falling for good.
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overmygraves · 2 years
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Hello ! Can I request our beautiful boy Ryan Graves? Some fluff and comfort ? Pretty please dear! ❤️ thank you so much and have a wonderful day dear.
so sorry for the wait!! many things happening but here we go, some fluff and comfort with our beautiful beautiful boy gravy ✨
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Homesick Blues
warnings: fluff, a little bit of sadness
word count: 1,4k
It’s been a year already since you’ve moved to New Jersey. You thought the homesickness would be something that would last at least a month or two, but it ended up coming back every once in a while, and you never really got used to it. Sometimes you think it might be a good idea to drop everything and go back to your hometown, but in the end he always makes it worth it to stay.
Your boyfriend, Ryan, was a happy surprise you didn’t expect to meet right on your first week in the town. Things escalated quickly as you started to go to more and more of his games, and Ryan always asked you out for dinner when he was done showering and organising all of his equipment.
The problem of dating a professional hockey player was that he barely had time to be with you, even though you lived only 10 minutes from each other. If he wasn't practising or working out, he was on game road trips with the rest of the team. It was difficult for you both to have a good night out, or even a night in, because he was always either tired or had to wake up early for morning skate.
When you came back home after a busy day at work, all you really wanted was to put on a comfortable set of pyjamas, get yourself some popcorn and binge watch the latest show that was released on Netflix with your boyfriend. Unfortunately, Ryan was currently getting ready for a game in Vancouver against the Canucks, so you would have to spend another night by yourself.
You opened the door to feel the sweet scent your candle always left in the living room, which reminded you instantly of the gardens in your favourite park back in your hometown. There it was, the homesickness, striking again.
You kicked your shoes in the back of the door and went straight to your shower, letting the warm water cover your body and wash all your worries away. It was freezing cold outside, but inside your apartment you could leave the bathroom in a towel, the temperature was more than comfortable. You changed quickly into your plaid pyjamas, already planning to get your midnight snack and hop into your bed to rest. While you made your way to the kitchen, as you passed by the front door, you got startled when you heard the doorbell ring.
You weren't expecting anyone, the only possible explanation was that it was your next door neighbor wanting to ask for another cup of sugar. You quickly stopped in your heels, turning over to the door and looking for the keys on the table. The sooner you got her what she wanted, the sooner you'd be back on your way to your bed.
When you opened the big wooden door, instead of seeing a grey haired 75-year-old woman, you saw a tall, pale man, long black hair propped up in a manbun.
"Ryan?" You managed to ask, still trying to understand what was going on.
Your boyfriend smiled at you, that sweet small smile that could make you melt in seconds.
"Hey, there, Y/N." He had a suit on, on his right hand the big duffel bag where he usually took his equipment and uniform, on his left, three hockey sticks.
You took a solid moment to understand what he was doing at your door when he should be in New York. As if he read the confused expression on your face, Ryan continued to explain himself.
"The game got cancelled because of a problem with the ice in the arena." He shrugged. "I took the first plane back."
The corners of your lips slowly turned into a smile as you realised how everything was going to be just how you wished that night.
"Come in." You said, making way for the 6'4 man in front of you to come inside the apartment. He gestured to leave his things next to the door, as if to ask if it was okay by you. You answered with a nod, and stayed for a moment just looking at him as he got rid of all his luggage.
When his hands were free, he got up from where he had kneeled on the ground and looked at you.
"Missed you." He muttered under his breath, which was enough to launch you in his arms.
Ryan let out a small laugh as he wrapped his long arms around your body, towering over you, and placed a kiss on the top of your head as you snuggled on his chest.
His body was warm and welcoming as always, and you wish you could just stay there forever. His hands went up and down your back in a soothing movement, bringing you just the comfort you needed at the time.
"I'm sorry for coming without warning." He began to apologise. "I thought of maybe going back to my place but… I really wanted to see you." His voice, always strong and confident, showed some kind of vulnerability in that last statement that you usually didn't hear.
"It's alright." You assured him. "I was thinking about how I'd only see you next week. I'm glad you're here." Your words sounded muffled on his chest, but he was so used to your voice that he understood every single one of them.
Ryan's strong grip on you didn't loosen until you tried to turn your head and look up at the much taller man. Both of you smiled at the same time before your hands went up to his cheeks and you brought him closer for a sweet kiss.
"How was the flight?" You asked him, only parting your lips enough to be able to talk.
"It was alright. Tiring." He answered sincerely.
"You do look tired." You tilted your head to the side while looking at his eyes that seemed to slowly close by themselves before he nodded in agreement. "Why don't you take a shower? I'll get some of the clothes you left here last week for you."
The corner of his lips tilted up as you let go of his body, taking his hand in yours and walking him to your bathroom. You turned on the shower, feeling the temperature of the water until you were satisfied with its heat. With a kiss on your cheek as to thank you for the care, he got inside the bathroom, undressing himself and quickly hopping under the hot water.
You walked back into your bedroom, straight to the famous drawer where Ryan kept his stuff in your house. You took one of his shirts, underwear and sweatpants, taking them back to the bathroom and leaving them over the sink with a towel.
Quickly, you were under the covers on your bed, turning on the TV and waiting for your boyfriend to get back. Before you knew it, you saw him coming out of the bathroom, dressed in the clothes you had taken, and drying his long black hair with the towel.
"You seem a little down." He started.
"I'm fine." You snuggled yourself under the covers. "Just… a little homesick, I guess."
In a swift motion, you took the covers off of your body to welcome him under them with you. He quickly laid down next to you in bed, pulling you closer and wrapping his arms around your waist.
"I see…" He placed a soft kiss on your lips, and put your hair behind your ear. "You know something that helps me when I'm homesick?"
"What?" The fact that he was home was already all you could ask for.
“Actually, give me a second. I’ll show you.” Ryan lifted the covers and got up from the bed in a second.He smiled at you once more before quickly leaving your bedroom.
The time seemed to pass slowly, but the clock on your wall told you it had been only five minutes since Ryan had gotten up. Anyway, you decided to go check on him, but before you could get rid of your covers the tall man showed up by the door. Ryan had both his hands holding two of the biggest mugs you had in your kitchen. He slowly sat in bed, handing you both mugs so he could get comfortable.
“What is this?” You smelled the sweet scent. “Oh, hot chocolate.”
“Not any hot chocolate.” He stated, taking one of the mugs from you. “The first hot chocolate my mom made me when I got home after my first season as a professional player.”
“And what’s the difference?” You took a sip of the hot drink in your hands. It was heavenly. “Would it be too cliché if I said ‘love’?” He laughed, making you chuckle and think about how lucky you were to date such a cliché.
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thomasschabot · 2 years
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you’re so cute with ur deli. i would love a cured salami on white with gravy 🫶🏻 maybe some domestic fluff? i don’t have anything specific in mind :-) i’m so happy you’re back to writing!!!
ahh thank you babes! 🥰 i'm glad to be back too. we all know ryan is the love of my life so i very much appreciate this
welcome to c's deli :))
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“Those don’t go there!” 
Your voice is airy and exasperated when you scold your husband, exhausted from the long haul flight from Melbourne. Ryan is much more used to traveling than you, and it’s glaringly obvious as he struts around in the faded green light of the stove clock trying to find homes for the knick-knacks purchased on your honeymoon. 
He smiles coyly, knowing they don’t actually have a place because they’ve never set foot in the house before, but lets you boss him around a little. “Alright sweetheart,” Ryan chuckles quietly, “Where do they go?”
A quiet fills the large space as you contemplate, thinking of where each would look best. “The magnets obviously go on the fridge,” you murmur, “And the koala stuffie fits perfectly on the shelf beside the lamp. Everything else has a place too, but I’m too tired to remember them right now.” 
“When did you think this all up?”
You open your mouth to respond, but a yawn sneaks out instead. You know your prior tones have been too harsh due to your exhaustion and adjust accordingly, wanting him to know you aren’t actually upset. “Somewhere between Sāmoa and Hawai’i when you were snoring,” you eventually get out, poking his chest lightly with your index finger. 
Getting so close proved to be a fatal mistake, and Ryan wraps his arms around you tightly. It’s clear he has no intention of letting you go, and a barrage of kisses is placed on your neck as your giggles bounce off the cabinets. The pair of you stay conjoined and waddle through the house, bags the pair of you had been hellbent on putting away long forgotten in the foyer. Sleep has taken control of your brain, fogged your every thought, and all you want to do is curl up next to Ryan and sleep the jetlag off for the next seventy-two hours.
Once back in the familiar space of your shared bedroom, with its lush green bedspread and posh gold accents courtesy of Ryan’s interior decorator sister, you allow exhaustion to take over completely. There’s no attempt made to change your clothes as you faceplant directly into the mattress. You don’t resist, however, when Ryan delicately peels items from your body and replaces them with clean undergarments before tucking the covers around your waist. He joins shortly after, stripped to his boxers and left hand empty, the ring he wears so proudly beside yours in the jewelry box.
“You’re my husband,” you whisper, completely delirious from the time change and still in awe that someone like Ryan wanted to be with you forever. 
He smiles, though it doesn’t reach his eyes completely out because he’s fading too, and tucks a loose piece of hair back into place. “I am. Forever and always.”
“Forever and always,” you repeat, leaning forward enough to place your lips against his. It’s barely a kiss, more so a resting pose, but it works and the two of you entwine impossibly more together, still so wrapped up in newlywed bless and beyond head over heels for each other. 
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place your order here x
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matbaerzal · 2 years
Note
Fic rec? @idontgiveaflyinggrayson69’s Vampire!Gravy fic 😭😭😭
The Beginning of Eternity - @idontgiveaflyinggrayson69
Summary: There was nothing romantic about falling for a human. But Ryan fell for you anyway.
Fic Rec Friday
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jackhues · 5 months
Text
only fools - jack hughes
jack hughes x graves!reader
based off of this blurb
brother's friend , fwb to strangers to lovers , second chance love
will be written in second person (you)
y/n graves was a fool.
while her brother was out there practicing for hockey, honing his skills, and showcasing his talents to scouts from around the world, she was sitting in the corner and watching.
she didn't explore her own interests as a kid, instead contented herself with watching her brother flourish. she watched him play for different teams, before seeming to settle with the new jersey devils.
and then she met jack.
teammates with ryan, he was everything y/n wishes she could've been. the two didn't get along well at first, not until y/n's best friend decided to date jack's best friend.
forced to at least 'tolerate' each other, that's what they did. it wasn't too hard, not while y/n was in california studying and jack was in new jersey playing hockey with her brother.
until the day 'tolerate' turned into something else.
before she knew it, she was driving over to jack's apartment while her brother was sleeping, being pulled into empty washrooms, doing her best to act like she hated him when it was nothing at all. nothing but fun.
but of course, y/n graves was a fool.
and like all fools, she found herself falling for jack hughes - the one man who would never see her the same way.
fics:
posted in chronological order, but the brackets indicate order of posting
just for the night (2)
just fun (1)
notes:
this is gonna be a mix of jack and y/n pre the fwb era, during their fwb era, post fwb, and the second chance love
i don't know how often updates will be, you can send in a few ideas you have, bcz this will also be interactive
this happens during graves' njd era, but also pens era
also feel free to send in nicknames for y/n
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babydollmarauders · 1 year
Text
MEDIA MANAGEMENT — JACK HUGHES (PART SIX)
one — two — three — four — five — 5.5 — six
notes: first photo was taken and sent to me by @/bellaxward on twitter, so creds to her! also, i’m sorry, i feel like this update isn’t the best but i’m running on like 3 hours of sleep and i was writing this bit by bit while super busy!
y/ndevils00
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liked by tmeier96, ehaula, and 37,519 others
y/ndevils00 heyo! welcome back to my postgame boyfriend show! tonight the njdevils played against the spawns of satan (not trevor)! or.. i mean.. the new york rangers.
we start tonight’s recap off with a very cute picture i got of my boyfriend and his best friend (again; not trevor) talking about how much they love me during warmups!
we also have da sun showing me that the tooth fairy came to visit him awhile ago! i bet he got lots of money for his toofer, however i wouldn’t know because he’s stopped letting me steal his wallet.
our first goal of the night was a tip in by mr. haula at ya! followed up in the same period by a goal from timo time! notice how he made the post this time? that’s because unlike most of these idiots (i’m looking at you, marino 👀), timo takes me seriously!
however, immediately after timo’s goal, haulaback girl was placed in the sin bin for tripping. i was very disappointed and he got a very strict talking to during first intermission and assured me he wouldn’t get another penalty. he lied.
he got a penalty in second period for the exact same reason that he did in the first. i cannot promise i was as nice to him in the second intermission.
we got a few scrums in this game, but my personal favorite one was in third period and ended much too quickly for my liking. BOO, REFS!
and finally, we have some pictures of my gorgeous, talented, sometimes annoying babygirl… my boyfriend!
tagged jackhughes, dawson1417, ehaula, tmeier96, ryangraves27 and vitacz15
dawson1417 y/n, i never LET you steal my wallet. you would take it from my pocket and count my money and then give it back, like a thief that’s really bad at their job
y/ndevils00 i’m just a very curious person! i like to know everyone’s business, all the time. and you never told me to stop 🤷‍♀️
jackhughes if i remember correctly, dawson and i were actually discussing our plans for the off-season
y/ndevils00 you remember incorrectly
jackhughes did you just call me babygirl
y/ndevils00 you’re so babygirl
jackhughes thank you?
john.marino97 why does everyone else get normal penalty reactions but me?
user52 wait, did y/n ACTUALLY just talk to Haula?!
john.marino97 @/user52 yes!
user52 OH MY GOD JOHN ILY
y/ndevils00 because you’re my bff and i only want the best for you
john.marino97 every day i rethink why i decided to become one of your best friends
y/ndevils00 you love me
trevorzegras did you seriously just specify that you weren’t talking about me when you said spawn of satan?
y/ndevils00 i didn’t want anyone to get confused!
trevorzegras i don’t like you
y/ndevils00 wait really???
trevorzegras wait no y/n i’m sorry. i was just joking
y/ndevils00 📸 caught in 4k
trevorzegras i hope both sides of your pillow are hot tonight
tmeier96 i made the post!!
y/ndevils00 you did a good job with my demands 🫡 i love my blankie
ehaula second intermission… you’re scary
y/ndevils00 remember that.
ryangraves27 why did you have to do me like this?
y/ndevils00 idk what you mean 🤭
user6 y/n is a menace and i’m here for it
lhughes_06 do i get to be in these posts when i join?
y/ndevils00 moosey, you’ll replace jack as the star of the show
jackhughes now hold on! let’s not get ahead of ourselves here!
y/ndevils00 @/jackhughes i said what i said.
lhughes_06 @/jackhughes can we keep her?
jackhughes i intend to
nicohischier no feature for me tonight? i feel betrayed
y/ndevils00 i only have 9 picture slots bud, idk what to tell ya 🤷‍♀️
y/ndevils00 make a goal next time or something
nicohischier i’m gonna steal your cat
y/ndevils00 you wouldn’t!
nicohischier i probably wouldn’t even need to steal her. i bet jack would just give her to me.
y/ndevils00 @/jackhughes TELL HIM HE’S WRONG!
jackhughes …. no comment
y/ndevils00 @/jackhughes you’re sleeping on the couch
jackhughes @/y/ndevils00 that only hurts you babe. every time you say that, you end up dragging me in to the bed at like 2am because you can’t fall asleep without me
y/ndevils00 @/jackhughes you can’t cook broccoli.
jackhughes @/y/ndevils00 yes i can! i can now!
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laurenairay · 1 year
Note
Prompts?!?! 😍😍
Can I request number 1 with my vampire boyfriend, Gravy, please? ❤️
5 – “Don’t make this weird.” – Ryan Graves
956 words.
Shifted your original request to this one as we discussed Jade – I hope you enjoy it!
*
Summer in Nova Scotia was only ever made better by one thing – the return home of one of your oldest friends, Ryan Graves. The two of you had been pretty inseparable outside of hockey while you grew up together, but eventually his hockey career had made the two of you grow apart like everyone always said it would. Instagram comments and weekly texts didn’t make up for hanging out in person, and although you now each had your own lives, his return home every summer settled that piece inside of you that always felt empty when he was away.
But he was just a friend, no matter what your other friends liked to think. Sure, he was remarkably attractive – you could admit that much – but there had never been anything between you like that, and you were more than happy with just being friends. He was important, and there was nothing you would do to risk that.
Being around him, at barbecues in your friend’s backyard like this, was more than enough.
“Here’s your burger! Extra cheese, no onions.”
You looked up at Ryan from where you were sitting, smiling at him as he passed you the plate of food. He really was such a sweetheart. “Thanks! I didn’t realise they were ready.”
Ryan just shrugged, smiling back at you. “I figured I’d save you the trip across the yard. Do you want a fresh drink too?”
He wiggled his own empty bottle, letting you know he’d be getting one for himself too, so you shrugged. This guy was just a thoughtful as he was pretty, wasn’t he?
“Sure, why not. Thanks!” you said happily.
Ryan sent you another blinding smile before heading across the yard. You turned back to your circle of friends with a smile on your face, only to see them all grinning at you, making you roll your eyes.
“Don’t make this weird,” you groaned.
“Weird? Oh yeah there’s nothing weird about him bringing you over a plate of food and then immediately leaving to get you a new drink,” your friend grinned, wiggling her eyebrows.
“Basically waiting on your hand and foot.”
“I haven’t even had that from my boyfriend and we’ve been together for five years now!”
“And you still think Ryan’s not interested in being more than friends?”
They all finished chiming in with grins on their faces, staring at you intensely, while all you could do was sit there in a stunned silence with your cheeks flaring with heat. Where was this coming from?
“Come on, you know it’s not like that,” you said weakly, wincing at their unimpressed expressions.
“Think about it, yeah? Really think about it. Because I promise you, what he’s doing isn’t just being friendly,” you friend pointed out.
“Speak of the Devil…”
You glanced to your left to see Ryan wandering back over, two drinks in hand, and looked back to your friends only for them to all stand up and walk away with incredibly unsubtle winks.
“Wow, was it something I said?” Ryan mused.
“It really wasn’t. They think they’re funny,” you sighed, taking the offered drink from his hand.
“Oh?” he prompted, sitting down in the chair next to you.
You lightly bit your bottom lip, drawing it inwards as you considered what your next words should be. Were your friends right? Was Ryan just being friendly or was it more? Was it even worth taking that chance?
“Is everything okay?” Ryan asked softly, forehead creasing slightly in worry.
Fuck it. Ryan wasn’t the type of guy to get offended easily, and you knew that even if it was just him being friendly, he wouldn’t make a big deal of you just being blunt with him. It was better to clear the air than have the wondering stewing up inside of you, right?
“The girls think that you getting my food and drinks isn’t just you being friendly,” you eventually said.
“Oh, well, I uh…”
Well, shit. There was your answer then. So why did it feel so disappointing?
“Hey, Ryan, it’s okay. Like I said, they think they’re funny,” you shrugged, smiling tightly.
“No, it’s not that. I just…they’re right? I just didn’t know you hadn’t realised it too,” Ryan winced.
Oh.
Oh.
“Wait, what? Really?” you said, more than a little stunned.
Ryan Graves, your Ryan, wasn’t just being friendly? He really did want to be more than friends?
“Really really,” he laughed, pale cheeks flushing slightly, “If I’d known you didn’t have a clue that I like you, then I would’ve tried to be more obvious about it.”
Now it was your turn for heat to rush to your cheeks. Had you really been that oblivious?
“Maybe if you’d told me with words rather than subtle actions…” you teased.
“That probably would’ve been the best way of going about it, sure,” Ryan grinned, nodding his head in agreement, “It was hard enough worrying if you were going to reject me.”
Reject him? Not a chance. Even if you hadn’t known or realised what he’d been subtly doing, there’s no way you would’ve turned him down. It’s Ryan, come on.
“You were really that worried?” you asked, frowning slightly.
He let out a shaky breath, before nodding, making you a frown a little more. No, that wouldn’t do. If he could be brave, then so could you.
“Maybe you should take me out to dinner, tell me all about those nerves,” you said simply, raising an eyebrow.
“Yeah?” Ryan said, smile slowly returning, kicking off the butterflies in your stomach, “I think I can manage that. How does Friday night sound?”
“Sounds like a plan,” you said, smiling back at him.
What a summer this was going to be.
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equallyshaw · 5 months
Text
nova scotia princess | nico Hischier
nico hischier x oc marchand
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warnings: swearing, mostly fluff and some sweet moments between her and her siblings.
word count: 4.3k
─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──
marie celine marchand had been in new york for the past year, much to brad's dismay. he hadn't seen her since christmas, and was shocked to see her at his doorstep up north. it was now july during the off season, and marie had decided to head on up to nova scotia, for her birthday no less.
the youngest of the five, she could not have been more different from the rest. she never engaged in hockey (i know! a sin!) never took any inkling towards skating or snow sports, but instead towards soccer, her first love. she was enamored with it and it took her to faraway places with team canada and for her college years at the university of stanford. she had a very hard time leaving california but knew it was best to start fresh, and it just so happened that she loved new york. at the time, it was only a 40 minute drive to her long time childhood friend, ryan graves before he was traded to the pittsburgh penguins. the day he was traded, he gave her a phone call and she was completely gutted. yet she understood the business side of the league, though brad had gotten the better part of it his entire career. after he was traded, she hadn't thought about the new jersey devils as the season rolled around. she no longer had something tying her to them, so she moved on and supported her friend's ryan and sidney on the pens from afar. it wasn't until she found her self in upper manhattan meeting up with some girls from work at a little known and upscale restaurant, that she had saw some of the people she'd grown close to over ryan's stint with the team. she walked past them towards her table, most certainly garnering some looks once they heard the familiar name of marie celine from the group of girls. she got a text from a few of them night, restarting the snapchat groupchat she had had with some of the younglings. most notably, hughes', nico and dawson. she rolled her eyes as messages flowed in that evening as the girls took some wine back to the girl's apartment.
that evening all of the caught up with one another, and then she received a text from nico askin if they wanted to get some coffee for old times sake. what did she have to lose? and so it began than, secret dates and then group dates with the team, spending weekends at a time with nico at his place getting up to whatever came about. throughout all of it, she kept it a secret from everybody besides her older sister rebecca; nobody needed to know. at least not yet.
marie walked up to the front door of brad's lake house and she mentally prepared herself for the all the pestering and bombarding that would happen once she'd set a foot in the house. she pulled out the key he had given her the year he finished building it, and she quickly made work with the lock and pushed open the tall door. "brad! im home!!" she called out, smirking to herself as she heard dogs running towards her and footsteps. she looked up to see brad with wide eyes and then his famous smile. she took her hand off of her small suitcase, and met him halfway for a hug. "who's here?" "who's that?" "if its jr im gonna cry" and that made marine giggle, already knowing it was ryan. "you good?" brad questioned pulling away just a bit and she nodded, "yep! are you? you forgot to invite me for my birthday!" she said faking a pout. "kat!" he called for his wife and marie slapped his arm, "don't go blaming it on your wife you hooligan!" marie said as katrina walked in and she squeled. "i thought you were going to sw-" and then katrina cut herself off. brad looked at his wife then to marie and then they were both gone and off towards the kitchen. "we have a surprise guest!" katrina called out towards the open back door and a group of heads turned towards her. she saw her siblings, ryan, sid, nate, patrice b, pasta, their partners, a few childhood friends of the siblings and a few aunts/uncles. "damn got the whole fam i see..." she whispered to kat who giggled. "uh yeah you could say that." she said looking down at the girl as some of the guys came to say hi. "hi guys." she said looking at some of the nova scotia greats as ryan rested his arm on the brunettes head. she looked up giving him a playful dirty glare, "ah hem." she said garnering a few laughs. "well if you'll excuse me-" she paused pushing ryan's arm off of her head, "ill be down soon, i need to do a few things." she said smiling at everybody before she was off towards a guest room that was designated hers.
she sat down on the edge of the bed as she put her head in her hands, cursing the world. her phone buzzing like no tomorrow with texts from nico, the hughes brothers and dawson. she had been dodging their texts and calls after (what she thought) was nico cheating on her. they were on facetime a week ago and she could have sworn she heard somebody in the background as she heard a muffled voice and nico look in front of him one night. so when she didn't show up to the airport in switzerland the day before, nico was freaking out. which in turn freaked the other boys out. she heard a soft knock on her door, and she looked up to see ryan. she sniffled, wiping her tears as he stepped in and shut the door behind him.
she broke down even more, and ryan quickly sat down beside her and wrapped his arms around her. he had no idea why his best friend was hurting, yet he kept quiet until her sobs became softer. "mc....whats going on?" he asked as he pulled back just a bit to look at her, her cheeks stained with redness and moisture. she sniffled, "he-he's cheating on me." she said and ryan knew exactly who she as referring to, besides her sister she ofcourse told him. they were two peas in a pod, through thick and thin. ryan sighed, growing heated with anger. "and they wont stop texting me...they are worried as to why i didn't make it to switzerland but i don't wanna talk to them." she said pushing her head into his chest. ryan kissed her head, trying to calm himself. she needed her best friend, he'd take care of nico later.
the next morning ryan left the marchand house early to get some coffee for him and marie. the two hadn't left her room all day. she was too much in state of disbelief, shock, and grief as she explained to nico what had happened. as soon as he was turning onto the main strip her called nico up, ready to tear him a new one. nico picked up on the fourth ring unsure as to why he was calling, "wanna fucking explain to me hischier why the fuck you cheated on the very best thing that has ever happened to you and our universe huh? why you decided to hurt the very brightest light? you are so in for it hischier, you have no idea. you have a whole league about to give you hell." ryan spat breathing rapidly. nico was at a loss for words over in switzerland. "what?" he croaked in confusion and exhaustion. since marie hadn't been responding to anybody's calls or messages, he hadn't slept. too sick with fear and anxiety. "she caught you with a girl nico, on facetime. are you seriously that daft?" ryan growled. nico thought back to their last facetime and he went through the events of it. he'd been sitting up in bed shirtless, around 11:30 his time, he was just about to go to bed after finishing his sleep tea and he then realized. she had heard his sister in the background, as she had come to visit him and the two had just gotten done playing a round of Mario kart. "christ- didn't cheat. promise." he said standing up now and looking at flights to new york. "who was it then nico?" ryan questioned, "my sister. can get flight to new york today." he said and ryan chuckled, "yeah no she ain't there." ryan said turning into the drive through, " if you're gonna make things right, you gotta come to scotia." ryan stated.
_
ryan walked back into the house with his, brad's, kat's and marie's coffee with a few breakfast sandwiches. "wanna tell me why marie is crying on the dock?" sidney said as soon as ryan walked into the kitchen. "wait what?" ryan asked setting everything down before looking towards the dock, and now seeing nate making his way down it. ryan sighed, "misunderstanding." he simply stated taking the coffees out of the tray. "misunderstanding, huh? is that why you two were locked in her room all evening?" sidney asked sipping his hot coffee. ryan sighed again, "she thought her boy-boyfriend cheated on her." was all ryan stated sipping some coffee. "boyfriend?" sidney questioned, eyes going wide. "does brad know?" he questioned, and ryan scoffed. "like he need to know every little thing in her life." and sidney wouldn't buy it. "no no, you have to tell him! or at least get her too." sidney said with authority, and ryan rolled his eyes. "sid, she doesn't want him to know at least not yet." ryan said watching nate and marie interact. nate had his arm around the brunette, as she sobbed into his shoulder. "you know we all look at her like a sister, please do the right thing. we only want the best for her and that only happens if brad knows, and you know that." sidney said before taking his cup of coffee and heading out to nate and marie. ryan groaned as kat walked in with the young kiddos. "ou! mommy juice, thankyou ry." kat said thanking the defenceman. she saw the look in his eyes, and then she look towards the crowded dock. "oh no." kat said, "oh no? whats up?" brad said walking in rubbing his eye. he paused as he saw the three of them outside, huddled together, "whats going on?" brad asked now walking in front of ryan. "uh-" "spit it out graves." brad demanded and ryan hummed. "she thought her- her boyfriend cheated on her. but it was a misunderstanding." he stated and brad was angry. "boyfriend?! what do you mean misunderstanding graves? spill it!" he said as kat took the kids outside. "she thought her boyfriend of 10 months cheated on her but it was only his sister that she heard. i just got off the phone with the dude so its been all cleared away, i just hadn't had the chance to tell her." and then he said softer, "and tell you he's coming here." ryan said not meeting his best friends eye sight. "here? are you mad ryan! who is this so i can knock some sense into him?" brad demanded and ryan was in for it. he was cornered, there was no getting out of this. "i cant say brad, only marie can." ryan said defeatedly and brad rolled his eyes. "so you're saying that you really arent her boyfriend?" and ryan now met his eye sight in shock. "you're telling me that you two haven't been together at least at some point?" he said and ryan laughed. "oh god no, shes my sister brad. you know she hates me half the time, for good reasons but no. i couldn't ever go down that path and there has never been a moment ever for me to. ew gross." ryan said and brad sighed. "always thought it was you two against the world... man i gotta pay up." he said amusedly. "pay up?" ryan said cocking an eyebrow. "a long running bet with patrice." and now it was ryans turn to laugh. the nova scotia princess was never his and would never be.
_
on the dock, marie thanked nate for listening to her ramble and cry into his shoulder before sidney sat down. nate rubbed her upper back, trying to comfort the girl. sidney sat down and offered her some kind words, and she thanked him. "i just don't know what was not good enough for him? what did i do wrong?" she said looking off into the clear lake. sid and nate looked at one another, silently trying to get the other speak up. "nothing sunshine, nothing. its all him." sid said trying to reassure the young girl he'd seen as a little sister since the day she was born. him and brad had been in practice together when they got the call from brad's dad, urging the boys to head down to the hospital with sid's dad. the moment he had seen the young girl was how he felt when his sister was born, he'd protect and be there for her through everything. "how about a boat day?" nate offered up and marie smiled. she could never and would never pass up a boat day.
it was around 10:30 pm and the original group that had been there when she'd shown up was back at the house, with all the kids passed out as they sat around talking, drinking and now making smores. ryan had been looking a this phone for the past two hours waiting to heard from nico, but nothing had come in since he had landed and was about to go through customs. marie had been having a great evening, her favorite people all in one place once again. celebrating her birthday that evening, and now talking like old times. ryan and marie sat with one another, cuddling up to stay warm now that a chill had set in. "dude, put your phone down for the princess' birthday." brad said annoyed that ryan and been on his phone for the better half of two hours. marie glared at brad, "its alright brad. no harm done." she sighed. she had a love hate relationship with the nickname, but most importantly when it was said out loud by brad. it made her cringe somewhat. "hows new york, mc?" nate asked and marie smiled then frowned softly before her smile reappeared. "its going great! work is going well and stuff. i even joined a soccer league for fun, it'll start up in august." she said swirling her drink. "we'll have to catch a game before we head to training camp." sid offered and the others agreed. she smiled softly, before ryan untangled himself from her after he got a text message. nico had arrived. brad eyed ryan as he got up and walked into the house. kat smiled softly knowing what was going to happen and nudged brad in the side a bit. "its fine, let them be." kat whispered and brad rolled his eyes.
marie shut her eyes softly, just basking in this moment, this evening and few days she had taken off of work to be here. it had been far too long since the last time she'd been home, always using her summers to train in san diego before returning to school. she hadn't been home in 6 years and promised herself that she'd make it up here more, now that she lived in new york. "oh princess!" she heard ryan call from the house and she sighed, standing up and throwing the blanket onto the seat before heading inside. "yes grumpy prince?" she asked giggling before she froze, seeing nico. he had a hopeful yet loving gaze on his face as she looked at him with tears beginning to form. what was he doing here? she turned towards ryan who had begun to make his way out, and she pulled him back inside as he was already through the threshold. "wanna tell me why he's here ryan?!" she asked upset. "ask him-" and she cut him off, "no, you tell me!" she screamed now alerting some of the guys outside. nico stood on the other side of the kitchen, with a defeated look on his face with guilt and regret spreading throughout his body. "he cheated on me and you're going to invite him here, ryan? tell me why that was a good idea, huh?" she pestered as brad walked in. "no fucking way." he muttered staring down nico, and nico took a step back. "answer me!" she yelled at ryan who held his hands up in innocence. "marie-" she cut off her brother, "you knew?!" she said stepping back away from the two. "let him explain himself." ryan said as she looked at the two people she thought she could trust in this world. thankfully, so far nate and sid hadn't given her any reason to distrust them. "let him explain, please. if you still don't believe him or want him gone- ill-we'll get rid of him." brad said pleading to his baby sister and she sighed, arms crossing over her chest. she turned slowly towards nico who had a pleading look, and her heart twinged just a bit. "fine." she said and the two smiled widely, backing out into the back and brad shut the doors.
"follow me." she said walking past him and they began their dissent up the stairs. she opened the door and let him walk past her into the room, and she shut it behind them. she then went to the window and shut the blinds, but not before flipping the group off. she heard groans and a few 'fuck' as they all wanted to hear and see the drama unfold. "i didn't cheat, schatzi. i promise." he began and she shook her head, "alright bud." she said rubbing her eyes. "i didn't baby, you have to believe me." he began again and she shook her head again. "who was it, huh? somebody like your ex? was it somebody better than me? what did i do wrong, ni. what did i do to hurt you?" she questioned through a strained voice. nico shook his head, "you've never hurt me, you've never done a thing wrong. promise. the girl-"he chuckled pulling her hands into his, inching closer to her. "the girl was my sister, nina." he said a bit amused now. his eyes crinkled as he smiled, his dimples on full display as he looked into the eyes of the girl, he loved. "wait what?" marie asked in disbelief. "your sister?" she asked and he nodded. she looked down and nico quickly diffused her guilt, "schatzi its ok, i promise!" he said pulling her chin up to look at him. she shook her head, "i - i mis read things and i feel like an idiot." she hummed tearing her chin away. "misunderstanding." he hummed and she frowned. "im sorry." she said with tears beginning to form, "im an idiot. oh my god." she said and he pulled her info a hug. he kissed her head, rubbing her back softly. "im a fool, im a utter fool how could i be so daft?" she rambled in french and nico chuckled, "you two have thing for the word daft?" and marie cursed the universe for him knowing french. "wait, two? who?" she questioned pulling back to look up at him. "nico yelled at me yesterday." he said laughing now and marie had a concerned look on her face, "how bad?" and that made nico laugh even louder. whenever she needed back up, he was there to give it. she looked up at nico as his laughs subsided and she stood on her tip toes to kiss him. he pulled her in closer, leaning down a bit so her feet could be flat. they pulled apart, resting their foreheads on each others. "so, how much trouble am i with the guys outside?" he questioned softly and now it was her turn to laugh.
it was the next morning now and marie woke up to an empty bed, groaning before getting out of bed. she made her way over to the blinds and opened the blinds to see kat, patrices and david's girlfriend, and the kids on the patio eating breakfast while all the guys are missing. she squinted over towards the lake and she did a double take before seeing her brother's boat. it was a crowded boat, with all of them sitting facing one another. she spotted nico and prayed that the guys weren't going too hard on him. after the two spoke last night, they made there way downstairs for a bit before nico was on the verge of passing out due to the time difference. she quickly changed into a white t-shirt and linen pants, before heading down he stairs. "ti!" she heard rue screamed as she walked outside, and quickly made her way over towards the older girl. she wrapped her arms around the girl's legs before rue pulled her up for a hug. "good morning my girl." she said speaking in french as the two shared a small moment in the morning sun. "hows my favorite god daughter?" she hummed and kat laughed, "your only god daughter." she mused. marie giggled, "that's why she's my favorite." she said setting her back down in her height chair, and sat down on the bench with noah , patrice's son. "ouu cinnamon rolls!" the girl overly gushed, garnering some giggles from the kids. "ever the oldest child." kat teased and marie winked, "i take my role very seriously." she hummed.
the boat was on its way back now after a very stern talk with nico, unfortunately. basically threatening his very existence if he were to ever step out of line. the usual. oh, and that there was somebody or two on every team who would not hesitate to teach him a lesson. nico and the guys all got off onto the dock, with ryan running in front to get some cinnamon rolls- steal is more like it. "hey! that's for us." marie said swatting his hand away as he came up behind her, "i swear to god grumps, im gonna cut off your hand." she said quirking an eyebrow between the two's showdown. "good morning princess!" brad said placing a kiss on the girl's head before stealing a cinnamon roll himself. "hey, not fair!" ryan said and marie mimicked him, earning a chorus laugh from the kids. "im the one that brought them." brad said shrugging, "no i did." sid said and patrice shook his head, "you brought the original one's, i was told to pick up another dozen." patrice said picking up his youngest, felix. "yall are too much in the morning." she mumbled in french, standing up and walking inside to get some coffee. nico followed her into the kitchen to get a refill on his, to which she happily poured him some. "how bad was it?" she questioned, peering around him quickly and then looked back at him. he shrugged, "theyre just as scary in life as on ice." he said and she giggled. "yeah...they have no filter." she said pushing a strand of hair behind his ear. "tell me about 'nova scotia princess'." and she rolled her eyes, "the fairest of them all." he added with a grin and she growled loudly. "you inconceivable fools!" she yelled out, making her way outside. "im going to kill you all!!!!" she said looking at sid, nate, ryan and brad. she did a fake start towards brad before going after nate, "come here nathaniel!" she screamed running after the man, who was, unfortunately, being outrun by a 5'4 semi-retired defenceman. "somebody help me here!" nate called out and sid began his dissent, but she was too quick and made her way after him. "you are so getting in that water!" she screamed, referring to a tradition the 5 of them had. a surprise morning swim in the cold water. "its cold!" one of the kids screamed and marie laughed. "perfect!" she grinned. ryan tapped nico, "lets get our girl." ryan said nodding towards the brunette and nico smiled. "lets get her." and the two made their way towards the water where she was running after the two. "no!" she screamed as ryan almost grabbed the girl. "don't you dare!" she said jumping a few feet away from him. thankfully with sid and nate being neighbors, she freely began her way towards their places with the group following her. nico was the one closest to and almost grabbed her as well but she took a step to her right and was out of reach, "alright i gotta do it myself!" brad announced jogging over and marie knew it was game over. "not the old man!" she gasped, earning a few chuckles.
it was not brad who got the girl but nico, who was immediately instructed to drop her off the dock and into the lake. she screamed, cried, and kicked but unsuccessfully as she felt water hit her back. as she came up, everybody else decided it would be a great idea to also jump in. she covered her head momentarily before splashing water in all directions, "you! you traitor!" she said with astonishment as nico tried to get closer. ryan dunked her before she could say anything else, and nico laughed with the rest of them. she came back up and pushed ryan, "rude!" "the princess of nova scotia is officially home!" brad said as he made his way towards her, ready to splash her as well.
─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──
hope you all enjoyed!! pls like and reblog if you did!
random tags: @hischiershoe @nicohischierz @cuttergauthier @skatesnstuff @fallinallincurls
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cuttergauthier · 1 year
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New Jersey Three
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Jack Hughes x Female Reader
This is chapter Three of Four
Can read chapter 1 | 2 here
Warning: Ex, fluff, cursing, Non supportive parents? Let me know if i missed any.
This has been in my draft for a while, I finally finished it.
word count: 1.7k
let me know what you guys think🤍
Today was New Year’s Eve, it’s always been a big celebration in Time Square except I didn’t want to go alone. This will be my first New Year’s Eve I’ve spent alone, ever since I was a kid, I was either with my parents and brother celebrating or in my teenage years I was partying with my friends.
This year was going to be different I just didn’t know exactly how. I talked to Luke earlier this morning and I had told him that I saw Jack yesterday, he was happy that we talk, he started jumping up and down which made me laugh, he even ran to tell his parents. I was happy that we finally talked again, I never should have waited a year to talk to him, but I guess running into him yesterday was meant to be.
I got ready for the day and decided to hang out on my couch and watch some movies. It was around 12 p.m. when I got a text from Jack asking if he could come over, I gave him my addressed and he said he would be right over.
I’m guessing he might want to talk more, we didn’t have a lot of time catching up yesterday, I just thought since it was New Year’s Eve he would have plans but I guess not.
About an hour later there was a knock on the door, it was Jack standing there smiling with two coffees.
“I brought you a coffee, do you still like cold brews?” he asked as he handed me the coffee
“I do, thank you” I replied smiling
We made our way to my living room and sat down on the couch.
“What brings you here? It’s New Year’s Eve I would have thought you’d have plans” I asked curiously
“I only have a team party tonight, I had time, thought I’d come over and we could catch up some more.” He said smiling
I’ve missed seeing that big smile of his.
“I’m okay with that”
“Did you still like going to Michigan? or did it make you want to leave even more?
“It wasn’t bad… but I was miserable, my friends were there but I still was following my dreams”
He nodded smiling
“well I am happy you’re in New York now”
“same here, how’s life been for you since you’ve been in Jersey?”
“pretty great, the team hasn’t been doing well but we’ve got some pretty great guys on the team”
“as long as you guys have a good group, I’m sure you could turn the season around”
“true, I still don’t think we’ll make the playoff’s this year though”
“There’s always next year Jack” I reassured him which made him smile.
“Do you have any plans for tonight?”
“Does drinking wine and watching movies count?” I ask making him laugh
“I guess it does but I was wondering if you wanted to come with me to the teams New Year’s Eve party”
I was surprise, this is only the second time seeing him in over a year, I didn’t expect him to invite me to meet his team already.
“are you serious?”
“Yeah why not, I’d love to have you there plus the guys that saw you yesterday… well more like PK wanted me to invite you”
“well we haven’t really been close in over a year and I don’t want to impose”
“trust me y/n you wouldn’t be imposing, plus everyone will love you, you’ve always been a social butterfly” he said making me chuckle
“Okay then… I’m in” I agreed smiling
“good, I can pick you up before, or you can bring your stuff to my apartment and get ready there if you want? It’s only going be Ty and I. we also have a guest bedroom if you want to spend the night.”
“if you and Ty really don’t mind me getting ready and staying the night it would be great actually, I’m guessing it’ll be hell trying to get an uber on New Year’s Eve” I said laughing
“probably” he chuckled
We spend the next 2 hours talking about our lives, what we���ve been up to since the last time we had seen each other, at around 5 p.m. I grabbed some my clothes for the party and to sleep in along with my makeup stuff, I put everything in a bag and grabbed my keys. Jack droves us his and Ty’s apartment after he picked us up some food.
Once we got there, he let himself in, you could tell this apartment building was new it looked modern. once we got in his apartment it was big, I was not surprise I mean two hockey players live here, there was no way I could ever afford a place like this.
“Y/n this is Ty, Ty this is Y/n” Jack introduced me to Ty
“Hey, it’s nice to meet you” I greeted Ty
“Hey, it’s nice to meet you too, I’ve heard a lot about you” Ty said smiling
I talked with both of them as we ate our food, once I was done Jack showed me where the bathroom was so I could start getting ready.
I did my makeup natural I didn’t want to go all out, since I was going to be meeting Jack’s team along with their families. I also decided to wear Black leather pants with a sparkly silver thank top that I would pair with some black boots along with a black crop blazer. It took me about an hour and a half before I was ready.
I made my way back to the living room with Jack and Ty, I saw Jack staring at me.
“what?” I asked chuckling
“Nothing, you look beautiful” he said making me blush
“Thank you” I smiled
“I ordered an Uber it should be here in 10 minutes” Ty told us
Jack and I both nodded as I joined them sitting on the couch.
Once the uber got here we made our way to the party.
I was still nervous to meeting everyone, but I knew Jack would have my back. Even after all these years I knew he’d always have my back no matter what.
Once we got there PK saw us and came over.
“Glad you guys could make it. You must be Y/n I’ve heard a lot about you” PK said
“It’s nice to meet you too” I said smiling.
“Make yourselves at home, drinks are in the kitchen” he said before leaving us there.
Jack introduced me to his teammates and their other half’s everyone was so sweet. Nico’s girlfriend Jenna (made up name) dragged me with her and the other girls.
“How long have you and Jack been dating?” Clare, Ryan graves girlfriend asked.
“Oh were not dating… I mean we used to when we were teenagers, but we broke up when he moved to Jersey” I said
“Oh sorry, it’s just Jack never brings any so we just thought maybe you were dating” she said embaressed.
“It’s fine don’t worry, were just friends” I said smiling. The girls nodded.
“Well from the way he looked at you, I can tell he really cares about you” Jenna said smiling.
I continued talking with the girl before they all went to find their better half’s since it was a few minutes before midnight.
“Hey” Jack said smiling when I made my way to him.
“Hey”
“You having fun?” he asked
“I really am, thanks for inviting me” I said smiling.
“I’m glad you said yes”
The countdown started
10…
9…
8…
7…
6…
5…
“Can I kiss you?” Jack asked I looked at him
4…
3…
2…
“yes” I said smiling
1…
Jack leaned in a kissed me. Our lips moved in sync. Everyone was cheering
“Happy new years y/n” Jack said smiling when we pulled away.
“Happy new years Jack”
We ended up making our way back to Jack’s apartment
We were just cuddling in his bed, both of us were smiling.
“This is a big city and we still happen to find each other again” I said smiling
“Maybe it was meant to be?” he said smiling before kissing me again.
“Maybe it was” I said smiling when he pulled away.
“I love you so much Y/n” he said nervously.
“I love you to Jack”
“Can we try this again?” he asked
“I’d love that” I said smiling, he smiled back.
“Can I take you on a date tomorrow night?”
“Yes, you can”
“Are families are going to be so happy” he said making me laugh.
“Oh definitely, Luke was begging me to tell you I moved here”
Jack chuckled.
“That does not surprise me one bit”
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coffee-at-annies · 5 months
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This just in! Turtlenecks are in this winter. Local girl starts a fashion trend (fingers crossed)
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wyattjohnston · 1 year
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I’m not sure if they count for your character list but #14 with Lily and Gravy? please 😊
- @xsyntheticsensation
i made it christmas themed because it fit really well (so well it's twice as long as the other). i hope that's okay! it's also #19 as we talked about lily & gravy's fic
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Lily had never seen so many presents under a tree. She’d wrapped them all, carefully and meticulously, tasking Ryan with adding bows and writing labels and every morning she walked out to see them all under the tree and couldn’t believe it.
A lot of that was simply that she couldn’t believe she’d spent so much time wrapping presents and the other part of it was that she didn’t want to think about how much money had gone into them all. Ryan didn’t seem bothered by it, so Lily was trying not to be.
On Christmas morning, Lily woke up and didn’t think anything of it; just expected to sit across from the same tree she had the entire month with all the same present underneath. She was halfway through her coffee before she realised that the pile had grown.
She put her coffee down on the table and couldn’t help but sneak over to the new pile to work out exactly what Ryan had done. She was so set on doing it sneakily that the sound of Ryan’s voice had her jumping so violently that she nearly took the whole tree down.
“You can’t open them until after lunch.”
Lily flinched she was so taken aback, “I can’t open any of them?”
“One,” Ryan conceded, sitting down on the floor beside her and picking out a present. “This one.”
She huffed a little that he wasn’t even going to let her choose and picked one out for him to open himself.
“Did you wake up in the middle of the night to wrap these?” Lily asked, already ripping into the wrapping paper.
“Santa came. Obviously.”
“Santa got a new name,” Lily retorted, finding the label that said To Lil, From Ry.
It became clear very quickly why Ryan had selected the package he had, eyes rolling immediately and Ryan’s entire face lighting up.
“You’re not funny.”
“You know I only tease you ‘cause I love you.”
Lily shook out a new pair of pyjamas, glaring at Ryan as she did; the Eeyore print on them was impossible to miss.
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