it was late when kirill finally shut the door to his apartment, the smell of you lingering, it made him smile softly as he dropped his bag by his feet and shrugged off his jacket, not bothering to hang it up and dropping it on top of his bag. solely focused on getting to bed with you, he stripped off his clothes as soon as he stepped foot into the bedroom, his chest warming at the sight of you tangled in his sheets and blankets, now yours too since you moved in recently. something stirred inside of him, seeing his stuff mixed with yours, your arm wrapped around his pillow.

he grumbled something in russian before disappearing into the bathroom and turned the shower on, he waited a few moments for it to warm up, standing in nothing but his boxers, he looked at himself in the mirror. all the bruises scattering his torso.

it was a quick shower, getting the smell of being on a plane off of him. he walked out with a towel hanging from his waist, since he forgot a pair of boxers. he stopped when the light shone on you, awake and staring at him.

“kуколка,” His voice was low, your thighs squeezed together.

You leaned up onto the pillows, “kirill.” you all but practically whined his name, he groaned lowly, walking towards your side of the bed.

“missed you.” you said once he reached you, fingers scratching softly against his thighs, “missed you much more, Зайчик”

you smiled softly, hands coming from his thighs and to his waist, tracing the line that leads to his dick, towel hanging dangerously.

“come to bed, baby.” you whispered, leaning forward and kissing his hip. kirill nodded and kissed your temple, changing quickly and dropping the towel on the floor, he knew you would curse at him tomorrow for it but he couldn’t care in the moment.

you moved his pillow back to his spot and pulled the blankets back for him, he crawled into bed beside you, pulling the blanket over him, tucking you in more as you leaned up to kiss him, he met your lips with ease, like he finally found a missing puzzle piece.

“‘m so glad you’re home, kirill.”

he squeezed your hips, “so glad to be home.”

you pecked his lips once more before letting him flip you onto your side like he did every night and fitted in behind you, arm looped around you abdomen, fingers brushing against your skin. lips brushing against your neck as he dug his head into it, breathing you in.

“Я люблю тебя, моя жизнь.”

you don’t know much russian, kirill teaches you sometimes— especially when some days all he needs is that, to not struggle to speak. and he’s more than thankful you sit with him and learn, or somedays just listen to him and decipher his tone and body language as he talks fast because that’s what he needs. but you know that one. he says it so much.

i love you, my life.

it always stirs something in you, he slotted his legs between yours, tangled together. than… the tips of his fingers dipped into your sleep shorts and just rested.

you tried to find an even breathing, you knew kirill was trying too. breath just a bit uneven against your neck and fingers twitching against the fabric of your shorts.

it was a few moments when the moved lower and he groaned softly against your skin, “nothing else?”

you shook your head, arching back into him. “you want?”

he smirked against your neck, “words, Зайчик.” he said, teeth grazing your skin, whimpering into the air you backed into him more.

“please, kirill.”

his fingers moved before you could finish, he didn’t care. he needed you. you felt him smirk against your skin when his fingers met the wetness pooling between your thighs, he said nothing— no teasing because he knew you felt him hard against your ass. kirill was aching from the moment he saw you in the bed, thighs curled around a blanket, plush skin for him to see.

you gasped softly when his fingers dipped into the wetness, teasing your hole before he began against your clit. “oh, fuck— kirill.” he nodded and bit into your skin, you moaned quietly. no doubt leaving more bite marks against your skin, they finally just faded since he’d been gone for so long. but they were never fully gone because as soon as he came back from roadies, his teeth were digging into you skin— you loved it as much as he loved doing it.

“so wet for me, да?” kirill whispered into your ear, teeth grazing it before he lightly nipped.

“always, fuck— always for you.”

he groaned at your words, hips tugging into you from behind and you moaned more loudly, digging your face into the pillow. “kirill—“ you gasped when he slowly plunged one finger in, then two, pumping slowly and curling at the perfect spot each time.

“oh, fuck— baby, i’m— don’t stop, please, don’t—“

“no, never.”

his fingers curled against that spongy spot inside of you once, you legs shook against his. “let go, Зайчик.” kirill said lowly, kissing your neck, no doubt leaving more marks. your hand squeezed the side of the bed, mouth opening as filthy sounds left your mouth, no longer muffled by the bed because kirill wanted to hear— he loved your sounds.

he groaned, hips rutting against you, he felt he could cum in boxers just from the sounds of you, the feeling of his fingers pumping in and out of you, squeezing him so tightly when he hit that spot over and over. his thick fingers stretching you out.

“kirill—“ you moaned, your other hand finding his forearm and squeezing, “oh my— kirill, i’m gonna,” your words died off when he hit that spot again and you came on his fingers, he didn’t stop though, never did either. just continues to pump his fingers, more gentle to help you ride out your orgasm. but doesn’t stop until your legs are shaking against his and tightening around his thighs and your nails are digging into his arm.

whimpering he brushes against your clit, “baby, i need you— so bad, please, baby.”

kirill groaned loudly, fingers leaving you and reaching down to tug his boxers down, pumping himself a few times before he brought his hand to your stomach and slid down to spread your thighs open. kirill grunted when his tip met the slick between your thighs, seeping out of you, you gasped softly.

he slowly pushed in, hand resting on your stomach like he could feel you stretching out because of him. it had been a long road trip, you cried out at the stretch, face digging into the mattress. kirill kissed your shoulder, trailing up to your neck and jaw, sucking and biting.

“so good, always feels so good.” he grunts into your ear, sliding fully into you, resting inside of you to let you get used to him again.

your eyes were close but you felt his hand travel up to your chest, then his fingers were poking at your lips, “open for me Зайчик,”your eyes shot open as your lips parted and kirill pushed his middle and pointer finger into your mouth, resting against your tongue.

he moans at the sight, peeking from behind you. a guttural sound leaves him that makes you moan around his fingers, tasting yourself on his skin, “i’ve got you, Малышка.” he said when he finally began to move and you moaned against his fingers and he slowly removed them.

“kirill—“

he shushed you, nodding against your neck as his fingers played your nipples as his hips began to move at a slow pace but finding that perfect spot inside of you. you whimpered, head falling back against his, he kissed your hair before his arm trailed up to your neck and curled around you— you easily falling into his neck like you belonged there as his arm tightened around your neck, barely but enough pressure to have you mumbling nonsense as his hips quickened and he grunted into your ear.

“so good, kirill— you’re so, fuck, so big, so perfect.”

kirill’s noises got louder, messier with your words and the way you squeezed around him, the way you fit into him as his arm curled around your neck, biceps squeezing you. your fingers curling around his muscles as you moaned against his skin.

your legs shook around his, still reeling from your last orgasam and feeling your second one approaching quickly. “kirill, i’m gonna—“

he nods against your skin as you cry out, head flying back so his lips were right by your ear, his grunts and groans going right into your ear that went right to your core, “fucking— baby, you’re so good, so good to me, i’m—“

kirill moaned, deep and raw as his hips stuttered against you, dick hitting you in all the right places inside of you, squeezing around him. “такая тесная, такая идеальная, зайчик, отпусти меня.” kirill completely lost himself, when he got here, english wasn’t something that came to him, he was in a mindset that only russian could come out, you fucking loved it. kirill tried, knowing these words for you— he wanted, needed you to hear them.

“close, да? gonna cum for me, милый ангел?” he groaned into your ear, you nodded against his bicep that loosened around your neck and slid down to your stomach until his fingers met your clit again, your whole body twitched at his touch, back arching into him, kirill slid his other arm around your neck, not tight as before but there, keeping you in place as your body worked on its own from pleasure, twitching and shaking.

“kirill— fuck!”

he dug his teeth into your skin as his thrusts got messier, groaning into your skin as you came around him, squeezing him so tightly his teeth let go of your skin and he grunted and groaned against your skin as his dick twitched and he came.

you whimpered as he continued his movements slowly but you were reaching a state of overstimulation that was too much.

you whimpered into his bicep as he began to pull out after a few moments of him laying behind you, still stuffed inside of you, “Моя жизнь идеально подходит мне. Всегда такая идеальная, я люблю тебя.”

mack knew it was wrong, well he did before— now he was just straight questioning himself. he knew having a crush on his best friend’s girlfriend was wrong, the thoughts he had had about you, but then came will. will had been in mack’s life before you though, they just connected from the moment they met— everyone always said it was the age and how well they played together, the fact they’ve played against each other and hated each other.

what everyone said didn’t matter to the two though, just the fact they had each other. you entered mack’s life soon after will, he met you his first game of the season. you had just moved to san jose, not a lot of people would agree moving across the country to move in with your boyfriend but you did, you and will had been together since before college. you knew he was your future so there was no point of staying behind when you could start building a life with him together, plus you guys relationship was a little different compared to a regular twenty year old couple.

of course, now being in san jose— you couldn’t miss a single home game. will has you front row wearing his jersey and number, during warmups, he bumped his shoulder against mack’s and pointed his stick at you with the softest smile mack had ever seen on will.

he nodded his at you as you waved to the two of them with a giggle, mack cleared his throat and adjusted his helmet.

after the game, will dragged mack with him, not shutting up about you.. but mack liked hearing about you, one, will was his best friend and he liked hearing how happy will was— two, he was really interested in what will had already told him and you.

and when the two pushed open the doors to the arena, you were leaning against the railing, phone in your hand as you scrolled through it. mack’s eyes widened for a split second seeing you up close, not through social media or a face time call.

“angel,” will called out, your head snapped up with and a large smile broke out on your face, pushing off the railing and meeting him halfway. mack stood awkwardly, hands in his pockets as you and will rocked back and forth for a few moments, then you pulled away. smile still as big as it was when you looked at will, but now you were looking at him.

“mack, hi! nice to finally meet you.”

and you hugged him.

from that moment, mack just felt like an extended version of you and will.. sometimes he felt like you guys didn’t spend much time apart from him. and that made him feel bad…. until one day, he stupidly made the mistake of walking into will’s room one night after going out.

big mistake!

because then he had to take a cold shower (that didn’t even help) and a lot of avoidance the next morning.

now, he was doing the same thing and it was really hard because now.. now he didn’t want to. all he wanted to do was spend his days and nights like that one day on the couch, when you allowed him to drop his head on your shoulder and will’s hands wrapped around his thigh. but he just barely said anything when he came from his bedroom and the two of you were on the couch or in the kitchen.

when you offered for him to hangout with them, he always had an excuse on the burner.

“tired from practice” “pretty sore” “in the middle of watching something”

will would furrow his eyebrows, hand squeezing your shoulder because he knew how you were, then leaning down to press a kiss to the back of your ear because he also knew you were probably frowning watching mack walk away.

it was one night after a rough game, that you had went to since it was a home game. silence throughout out the entire car ride, will was in the passenger seat since you offered to drive, slumped in the seat but angling himself towards you, mack was sitting behind the driver seat— headphones on and staring down at his phone as he pretended to be interested in what he was scrolling on, jaw clenched as a clip from the game popped up and the cruel comments of people.

every now and then, he would glance up from the screen and his jaw would clench even harder. your hand was on the back of will’s neck with a soft squeeze and will would melt into it, kissing your arm.

by the time you pulled into the parking spot, mack was already opening the door and rushing into the apartment.

“‘m gonna take a shower, didn’t get to after the game.” will said from the passenger seat, grabbing his bag and opening the door. you bit your lip and nodded, following him into the apartment and dropping his keys into the bowl by the front door, he dropped his bag and went into the bathroom.

mack was sitting on the couch, staring down at his phone and you debated just walking into will’s room but you noticed his headphones were off of his head and that showed you he was open to having you with him, you knew him well enough to know that and that scared you. it scared you that you wanted to sit with him. to care for him just like you would will after he got out of the shower.

but you just sat on the furthest end from where he sat, taking a deep breath. mack looked up through his eyelashes, you were awkwardly sitting on his couch. he’d never seen you so awkward.

are you having realizations too? he thought but quickly shook his head and looked back at his phone, no. there’s no way.

“mack,” you said softly, like someone approaching a stray animal, “i just… i want you to know i’m here for you, too.” sitting up straighter, leaning more towards him. mack swallowed, shutting off his phone and dropping it beside him on the couch to look at you.

your chest crumpled at the sight of him, cheeks still blotchy from the game and his feelings rushing through him, hair damp and disheveled from how many times he’s run his hands through it, eyes wide like he was scared of something.

“but i don’t know how to be there for you.” the words left your mouth before you could think, you swallowed roughly and looked away from him.

mack licked his lips, sighing heavily as he leaned forward— more towards you. “i’m sorry.”

“what?” your head snapped towards him, “why? why are you sorry?”

“i think i’ve always been hard to be… for someone to be there for me.” he admitted softly and quiet, the words came out broken, like he was scared to say it. you immediately scooted to his side, hands clenched at your side to stop you from holding him.

“that’s okay.” you said, cringing at yourself and the words. “no, that’s not but—“

mack cut you off with a soft laugh, “i know what you mean, angel. don’t think about it too much.”

you smiled, the nickname falling from his lips as easy as it did will.

“thanks.” you laughed breathlessly, knocking your knee against him. he knew you were overthinking your words before you even finished your sentence and knew to calm you down.

“i’m here. for whatever you need.” you said, unclenching your fist at your sides and he noticed.

“don’t say that.” mack responded quickly, looking down at the floor. you furrowed your eyebrows, looking at the spots on his cheeks that were red. you put your hands in your lap and angled yourself away from him.

shaking your head, “what? why?”

“because you can’t be, ang— you just can’t.”

“mack.”

“no, i’m just gonna go to sleep.” mack said, already pushing himself off of the couch, your lips pouted as you looked up at him. “mack—“ not knowing what the hell took you over, you reached over and grabbed his wrist.

mack froze in his spot, your hand still wrapped around his arm. “mack, please— i don’t want you to be upset.”

“why? angel, why in the hell does that matter to you?” he turned around, your hand dropped into your lap as he did, frown still permanent on your face, lips parting at his words.

you shook your head, eyebrows furrowed. “i care about you, mack.”

mack shook his head, bringing his hand to his face and sighed shakily. “but—“

you tugged on his hand, mack dropped back onto the couch. “no but, mack. i care about you and i want to be here for you.”

mack looked at you, light shining in through the the lamp in their complex, his green eyes staring into yours, wide eyes like he was scared. he always looked like that to you.

“i don’t know how to let somebody do that.”

you nodded, bringing your hand to his shoulder. “can i hug you?” you asked, hand splayed across his shoulder as he took a deep breath and then nodded, already dropping his head onto your shoulder and you quickly wrapped your arms around him.

you felt him take shaky breaths against your hoodie, his hand eventually came to it and his hand gripped onto the fabric. you dropped your chin onto his shoulder and rubbed your hand against his back.

he stayed, so you didn’t move because mack didn’t often stay. he moved a lot so you took this opportunity.

you heard will’s footsteps coming down from the hallway and he appeared wearing sweatpants and a sharks hoodie, his eyes widened for a second at the sight, you smiled softly as will stood in shock at the entryway.

he’d never seen mack so… content in being held by somebody.

then you both heard him sniffle, your hands froze against the fabric of his jacket before continuing so you didn’t freak him, will’s face softened as he leaned against the wall, too scared to approach.

“it’s okay, mack.” at your words, mack buried himself deeper into your shoulder, both hands gripping your hoodie like he’d be left if he let go, “not going anywhere.” a soft cry left his lips at that, like you knew his worrying thoughts circling his mind. you knew him and he felt sick.

this was his best friend’s girlfriend, what made it worse is he wished will was sitting on his other side. he just didn’t know will was holding himself back a few feet away.

when he pulled away, he finally did notice will standing there… just watching. mack wiped his eyes, even though he knew will had been there to hear it all. “you just gonna stand there like a creep or join?”

will laughed, shoulders shaking as he pushed off the wall. “you want me to start crying too?”

“no, dumbass.” mack laughed, you giggled at his side and smiled at will as he approached. mack’s mouth opened as will sat on his other side, barely any room in between the two— mack was confused on why in the world he wouldn’t sit by you.

you didn’t say anything though, just reached to get the blanket as will reached for the remote, you both leaned back, shoulders brushing against his.

mack felt like he’d died and went to heaven.

“whatcha wanna watch, mack?” you asked softly, like an angel he thought. throwing the blanket over the three of you.

you two were just taking care of him, he’d just been vulnerable and his best friend was being a best friend while you were just being nice. that’s it. that’s what it had to be.

but halfway through the episode of a show the three of you always watched together, you dropped your hand against his shoulder and will snuggled into his side. snuggled. and then sighed like he’d found the most comfortable spot.

it was just another night at the shared apartment between will and macklin, you were there, cuddled into the corner of the couch with a large blanket wrapped around you that mack threw at you before he sat down— like he knew in five more minutes you would start complaining. they were playing some game, you didn’t know what it was or care to figure it out, you occasionally looked up when one of them would groan loudly or push against each other, but focused on your phone.

will would occasionally blindly reach beside him and rub your leg, letting you know he still knows you’re there even though he was so focused on what was going on the tv.

mack would glance over every time he caught will’s arm moving out of the corner of his eye, jaw clenching when will’s arm stayed in his spot— mack hated the feeling deep in him.

he knew what it was. he would just never admit it.

“i’m gonna get something from the kitchen, y’all want anything?” you asked softly, careful to not distract them too much. smiling when you noticed their focused faces, will shook his head without saying anything, squeezing the skin on the back of your thigh as you stood up.

looking towards mack, he was already looking up at you. well he was really trying to focus on keeping his eyes on your face— not your boobs! “uh, uhm…” mack stumbled on his words, cheeks immediately burning up and he hoped the blotches of skin that always reddened weren’t giving him away.

“no, thanks.”

it was short, too short for you or will not too notice. you smiled tightly and nodded, will watched you leave, so did mack, he watched you disappear into the kitchen and he licked his lips.

both of them too distracted, the tv flashed red signaling they lost. will groaned, “dude.”

mack snapped his head towards the tv, he rubbed his cheeks feeling the heat. “damn.” he said but it was obvious he didn’t care that much, will didn’t notice, just put the controller down onto the table.

“whatever, we suck anyways.”

mack laughed, it was fake but will didn’t notice again, just pressed his hands against the couch and stood up, following your footsteps into the kitchen. and when he finally disappeared into the kitchen, although mack could still see him, he watched as will came from behind you and squeezed your shoulder. mack snapped his head away with a deep exhale.

he was so fucked.

mack tried to push it down, ignore it and it would go away. but he’d been telling himself that since will brought you over for the first time. and the many months of you hanging out with them, usually mack hated being around couples— the way they made him feel so single and unwanted, like he was interrupting their time.

you never did, neither did will. the two of you always involved him, never doing too much pda around him (even though he’s seen enough without meaning to!) he liked being around will as much as he liked being around you.

his heart skipped a beat at that.

he swiped his sweaty hands against his sweatpants, taking a deep breath, looking around the living room. it was simply decorated, some pictures scattered around the walls and desks but neither will or mack cared to decorate. it was you who changed their mind, saying how you hated it made you feel like you were in a hotel and not a home.

mack and will definitely knew why, when they went to your apartment one night— decorated all over. they felt like they were at a home, and when they went home that night they definitely felt the hotel vibes.

mack’s eyes caught on a picture of the three of you, cat had taken it, off guard like she always did. when she sent it to you with a wink emoji, you immediately got it two printed out, one for your house and one for theirs. you were sitting in between will’s legs as he attempted to braid your hair, mack pressed up against will’s side since everyone on the team was trying to fit on the couch for some reason. mack was staring at will’s hands working through your hair, will had a concentrated look on his face and you were smiling at something colin was saying.

he bit his inner lip as you and will walked back into the room, “wanna watch something?” will asked casually, obviously not noticing macklin’s crisis, and it got worse when you plopped down onto the couch beside him and will beside you.

your thigh pressed up against his as will dropped his head in your lap, mack watched as will tucked the blanket under your thighs and wrapped one around himself and your hands found a place in his messy hair, mack clenched his fists in his lap,

“put something on, yeah?” you asked him softly as you opened the bag of popcorn, will blindly reached above his head and took a handful. mack reached for the controller, scrolling on the tv until he found a movie— will stopped him at one point and told him to put that one on.

at some point throughout the movie, mack was attempting to adjust himself to be comfortable, will was sound asleep in your lap. mack turned to the side, head knocking against your shoulder— he froze but you didn’t notice, well he thought you didn’t. but you did, you noticed the way his entire body went tense and his hands flexed beside your thigh.

“you can put your head on my shoulder, mack.”

your voice was soft, careful not to interrupt the moment. mack looked at you, meeting your soft eyes, his were wide and scared. you couldn’t comprehend why he was scared.

but he was scared the moment he rested his head against your skin, everything would change.

and it did.

he dropped it onto your shoulder just as will pressed his head deeper into the plush of your thighs, arms stretching above his head, he was trying to hold your legs but his arms stretched longer and wrapped around mack’s.

but instead of freaking out, like he thought he would. mack snuggled closer into your side with a content sigh. letting the moment happen and hope it would always stay like this.

Tears of relief came out of your eyes when you ran into her arms after your last recital. A summer went by of the boys playing hockey and you playing in the yard, watching with a frown wishing to be apart of that. Ellen came to you one day, sweat beading down your forehead in the heat but refusing to leave your brothers, Luke looking at you, with a flyer of a new cheer place opening in the town. She never imagined that’s what would be your thing, but it was. Cheer stuck with you throughout elementary school, even as you tried soccer with your best friend— you did that until the last year of middle school. Ultimately giving soccer up so you could focus on cheer in high school, and you were pretty damn good at it.

It was hard for the family though, hockey games between the three boys and practice’s with you that lasted hours, plus the games you performed at, then the big competitions. And it was really hard on you, when your brothers weren’t there in the stands, nor was your mom. It was usually your father when the family couldn’t be there, but his cheers were loud enough for them.

Your brother have always been protective, you knew that. In elementary school, Quinn and Jack both got in trouble for punching a boy at lunch because somebody yelled that he was your boyfriend.

“They punched him, mom! He was bleeding!” You cried in the back seat of the car, Quinn was sitting in the front with a glare as Luke sat between you and Jack with wide eyes after just witnessing you jump over to wack Jack in the head repeatedly.

Ellen sighed loudly from the driver seat, she looked in the mirror to see you— eyes blood shot red and a permanent frown on your face. She looked at Quinn quickly, his fist were still clenched in his lap as he looked out the window.

“Yeah, he deserves it.” Jack grumbled from his seat, Ellen was ready to pull over and yank you off of your brother but instead of throwing punches you yelled.. something that never really left the four of your guys mouth during arguments. The two Hughes parents had seen a lot of fights between the boys and you, arguing though… never happened often, just opting to use your fists, legs, and teeth sometimes.

A sob tore through your mouth, Luke was watching your carefully. A hand on your leg, trying to calm you down but nothing seemed to help.

“I hate you!”

Ellen gasped so loudly, she coughed. Quinn unclenched his fist in shock, Luke’s jaw dropped watching as you sucked in a deep shaky breath as your mom pulled into the driveway, you hiccuped through your sobs and yanked your leg away from Luke, he frowned. Jack’s lip parted and snapped his head towards the back of his mom’s seat.

She yelled your name, you sobbed louder trying to unbuckle yourself but couldn’t see through the tears, Luke noticed and put his hand between the two of you and pressed his finger down and unbuckled you. Not bothering to grab your book bag, you threw your door open and slid out with another sob and ran into the house.

That was the first time, more followed, especially when you grew older. Your mother worried when you grew into your beauty, how overprotective the boys came when you entered high school… then the first boyfriend— the break up was worse. You didn’t show up to school for a week.

They were all protective in their own ways, you loved them for it but sometimes truly hated it. Quinn was protective in a way with words, a threatening sentence towards somebody and they froze… wondering if it was true or he was giving out wordless threats. Jack was protective in a physical way, he always had been. Sometimes it scared you: the way he easily got himself into trouble for you.

Luke though was different, being your twin. He was a mix between the both of them but usually it was never with the other person— it was with you. While Quinn was glaring at the person and speaking lowly to them or Jack was throwing them against a wall or throwing punches, Luke was standing beside you, making sure you were okay, protecting your feelings.

So when hockey came around and more boys came into your life because of them, one night they all came into your room. Well, Jack and Quinn did— Luke was already lying on your bed, in his pajamas under your comforter as you sat at your desk trying to study. Key word, try. Luke barged into your room an hour before, freaking out about some girl from school.

The trying to study went out the window when the other two barged in and got comfortable by their brother, you tried to focus on the paper you had been staring at for the past ten minutes but their eyes were burning a hole into you.

“What?” You spat, slamming your pencil down and turning to look at them, Jack raised his eyebrows at you as Quinn shook his head. Luke was scrolling on his phone, you assumed he stopped being a pussy and was texting the girl.

Jack raised his shoulders, “Just wanted to come hang with our favorite sister, is that such a problem?”

“I’m your only sister… and you never wanna hang out with me.”

Quinn frowned for a second, Jack’s eyebrows raised at the sudden bluntness in your words. And Luke’s fingers paused on his screen, side eyeing you.

You stared at them, noticing their facial expressions. “Not like that! Just you guys are so busy with hockey—“

“You’re busy with cheer.” Jack cut you off, sitting up a bit. You saw the panic on his face, god, he was so dramatic sometimes.

“I know.” You gritted out, leaning back into your chair, “I’m just saying— it doesn’t matter—“

“Yes it does.” Quinn jumped in, you glanced at him. “Why haven’t you said anything?”

“Oh my god. Because I didn’t mean it like that! What do you want?” You sighed out, throwing your arms out in front of you. Quinn looked at his brothers quickly, you bit your inner lip watching as it seemed like they were communicating with their eyes— right in front of you.

You love them, so much. More than you could ever put into words but sometimes it felt like you were on the outside looking in, Luke always tried to include you but sometimes it was so hard. They spent so much time together, while you were out at practice for hours after they got home from theirs, them sitting on the back porch together. You were too tired to bother saying hi to them, going straight to the shower and then your bed. They had a different bond, as boys and brothers, and players— something you’d never be apart of.

They were your brothers but it was different.

Swallowing roughly as Jack nodded sharply to his older brother, you straightened in your seat. They all looked at you, eyes softening just a bit.

“We just wanted to say… you know, us joining teams and all soon— our hockey friends are… y’know…”

You furrowed your eyebrows, shaking your head with a shrug. “No, I don’t know. Use your words.”

Jack grabbed a pillow from behind him and chucked it at you, grunting quietly as you stopped it from smacking you in the head.

“You know… off limits.”

“Ew. I don’t want your hockey friends.”

That night, you and your brothers ended up in the kitchen arguing back and forth as your parents watched… attempting to soften it.

But you were right, you never batted an eye at them. Not when you walked in from practice and said hey to your brothers, nodding your head politely at their friends sitting in the living room, watching as you went into the kitchen where your mom stood in front of the stove cooking dinner, you grabbed a water and went up to your bathroom. Not when they attempted to flirt with you, ignoring your brother’s warnings to not do that.

Before you knew it, Quinn and Jack were in the NHL— something they’d always dreamed of. Quinn was in Vancouver, something that broke your heart.. him being so far away from home and his family. But nothing beat watching him score his friend goal of his NHL career, nor did it with watching Jack’s.

It was the year Luke got drafted, it was the year you parted away from your home, under the same roof as your twin brother and parents to leave to join California all stars. Of course, you came home for his draft! How could you not?

You could never miss the moment when the announcer said his name, Luke Hughes for the New Jersey Devils— the same one as Jack. How Jack practically leaped over you throwing himself around your brother with excitement, tears filled your eyes as you were squeezed between the three of them.

The four of you were all away from home and it was really hard sometimes, you guys were so close but couldn’t be more proud of each other. You texted the group chat every morning and night, especially when you knew you day would be busy, just to say something to them. It was harder with Luke, you and him had never been separated since your mom gave birth to the two of you, it took a long time where you or him didn’t burst into a tantrum when you were separated for more than a few hours… sleepovers rarely happened because by bed time you or him were running to your friends parents crying for each other.

Luke called every day, knowing your schedule after the first week of you and him being separated. You and him tried your best to talk as much as you did before but you weren’t used to him being so busy in the NHL and he wasn’t so used to you being miles away from him and different time zones. Plus, the training the two of you went through and barely had the energy to pick up your phone once you walked through your front door.

The first year was the hardest.

But eventually, you and your brothers were used to the difference. It didn’t make it any harder but it worked. They constantly bugged you about any boys, especially when one time some random boy answered your phone. Sitting in your living room. His face popped up on the group face time where your brothers stared at him in shock for a few moments.. questioning if they accidentally added somebody else but it was the siblings group chat.

It was a friend from cheer.

You honestly hadn’t truly dated somebody since high school, before the world only knew you as the Hughes sister. You attempted to go out on a date from somebody you met at the grocery store, seeing it as somewhat of a normal interaction. Not meeting them at an event or on social media. They didn’t recognize you as a Hughes or being related to the famous hockey brothers.

And then….

“I’m a huge fan of your brothers work.”

You were a bit dramatic about it, sighing loudly but nodded and apparently that gave him a signal to keep talking about them— he even asked if you could call them! The rest of the date until you cut him off as the waiter began approaching the table, quickly turning around when she heard the sharpness in your voice and stood up, walking away.

He yelled for the whole restaurant to hear about the check!

You rolled your eyes as you pulled open the doors with tears in your eyes, opting to call Luke but knew he would just run into Jack’s room so you kept your phone in your purse as you walked through the streets of California.

After that night, you declined anybody who asked to take you out. Just imagining yourself sitting in the middle of a restaurant of somebody asking something about them.

You never went on a date again after and never told your brothers. They pushed you that night when you never called after the date, you decline the first call as you laid in your bed, curled into yourself watching your comfort movie, tear stained cheeks. They immediately blew up your phone and told you to answer right now.

Sending a quick text and told them you were about to take a shower, which you did so you could look a little less crazy and the crying wasn’t noticeable. You made up some lie that all he did was talk about himself, your phone set on the counter of your bathroom as you lazily did your nighttime routine. And for some odd reason, they believed you when you lied to them. You never were a good liar and they always knew your twitch when you did lie, but apparently they couldn’t see when your face was in and out of the camera.

It was one night, your roommate who you cheered with wanted to go to a hockey game. She didn’t know anything about the game until she met you, sitting with you as you watched your brothers play and answered her questions or explained what was happening. She soon learned most of it and enjoyed for when she would hear your yell from the living room that the game was starting.

“There’s a game here! It’s like an hour away, we should go.”

That’s how you found yourself at a San Jose Sharks game, your brothers couldn’t believe you were going to be cheering another team on but you just rolled your eyes and told them the Canucks and Devils would always be the team you cheered for the most. It was a good game, your friend in her element as she could watch the game and actually understand… only a couple times did she lean over and ask you to explain something.

Then… you and her were at every Sharks game, as long as you were both free. She literally cancelled a date one night when she learned there was a game, you convinced her to just invite him and you would stay home.

“No way, girl. This is our thing.”

You ended up buying a third ticket the morning of the game and gave it to her, she kissed your cheek with a bright smile. You kind of regretted it when he arrived at the rink and the two were snuggled into each and you sat by yourself, arms crossed around your chest trying to warm yourself— usually, she was snuggled into your side, shivering about the coldness she was not used to. You guessed you’d just gotten used to her warmth.

After the game, you stood behind them as they talked, “I don’t wanna go home.” He smiled at her, intertwining their hands, you rolled your eyes as she said that for the hundredth time of the night.

Digging in your purse, you grabbed your car keys and chucked them at her back. She stopped and turned around sharply, squinting her eyes at you, looking down at your keys at her feet, she slowly picked them up with furrowed eyebrows.

“Take my car and go enjoy the rest of the night.” You smiled softly at her, her smile somehow grew larger.

The guy beside her furrowed his eyebrows, “What about you?”

“I’ll just call an uber.”

Which was the stupidest thing you could’ve offered, they left you quickly after that which was an hour ago. You were still sitting outside of the rink, of course no Ubers were available, they were all picking everybody else up from the arena. A pout formed on your lips when the first one cancelled, then when the second one did— tears formed in your eyes.

Sitting on the curb, curled into yourself as you leaned your chin against your knees watching as players drove out of the arena! You could’ve cried again but you didn’t, just watched as people walked by without blinking at you. You checked your friend’s location, you could tell she was still out with the boy so you kept the messages quiet.

You were watching as people cheered across the street, all dressed in Sharks gear. Smiling softly as somebody jumped onto another person’s back with a loud ‘whoop!’

Gravel crunched beside you, you snapped your head up and saw two boys staring down at you, they looked your age. You squinted your eyes at them as they blinked at you, like you were some animal that was standing in the middle of a road.

“Yes?” You questioned slowly, one of them straightened their back when you spoke.

“Are you okay?” The other asked, hands shoved into his pockets. Their hair was damp, they were dressed nice. You moved your head so the light wasn’t blocking their faces anymore and recognized them as two players on the Sharks.

Will Smith and Macklin Celebrini.

“Oh, yeah. I’m just waiting for the Ubers to start picking people up again.” You shrugged with a tight smile, Macklin nodded softly as Will ran his hand through his damp hair, the light shining on the side of his face, he looked like an angel… you clamped your parted lips shut as you stared at him.

Macklin stepped beside the other boy, “Do you need a ride? Ubers usually take a long time to start getting people after a game.”

You sighed and looked down at your phone, you were usually in bed by now and your phone was at ten percent.

“I don’t live around here and I can’t ask for you to drive an hour after playing a hockey game.” You said softly, looking up at them again. They both shrugged, Will jerked his head and offered his hand.

“We don’t mind, c’mon.” You looked at his outstretched hand carefully before taking it with your soft hands, he squeezed yours before pulling you up, you squeezed his back before slowly pulling away. Smiling as you looked between them as they watched you tug your jacket closer to you,

“Uh, you guys have a car right?” You asked after a few moments of you three standing there, Macklin’s eyebrows shot up before he nodded.

You thought that would be the first and last time you ever saw the two, besides at the games. But that night, when Will walked you to your door, you did your nighttime routine scrolling through his social media. Something you’d never done. And it was noticeable, when your finger accidentally double tapped a picture from too long ago. You screamed as your tooth brush stopped it’s movement in your mouth as you quickly took the like back and spit your toothpaste out, running int your roommates room, ignoring the guy sitting on her bean bag.

The next morning, as you scrolled through your notifications on your balcony, a smile graced your face. He followed you.

That was just the beginning, soon after a couple dms back and forth… Will seeked you out after the game with no Macklin by his side which surprised you.

“Wanna go get some celebratory food?” He asked softly, with that boyish grin that made your stomach flip. Your friend squealed from the other side of the car, you and Will laughed at her as she muttered an apology.

You leaned closer to him, tugging on the bottom of his jacket. “I’d love too… but I do have a friend that needs a ride home.”

“She can drive, I’ll take you home.” Will shot back with a smirk, you shook your head biting back a smile and called out your friends name who rounded the car with a wide smile, Will stepped back as you threw you keys at her.

“Have fun!” She sung with a giggle, watching as the two of you walked away, fingers brushing against each other before he flexed his hand and grabbed onto yours, she squealed again before shutting your door and driving off as Will lead you to his car.

It was sudden, the change between you and him. Before, you knew it was never about being just friends but there was also no rush to be anything more. It had been a few months since the first time you and Will went out, now he was coming over and spending the nights accidentally, the two of you falling asleep watching a movie or staying up late trying to finish putting together the legos you and him bought that day when he went shopping with you, sleep was written all over his face and you told him he could stay.

Macklin came over a lot, you and him became really close too. Your roommate got along with both of them, the four of you playing uno after dinner that you and Will made in your kitchen earlier. You soon realized how competitive Mack was, almost as competitive as your friend. You and Will would watch the two of the bicker about the cards they just put down, you just leaned into Will’s touch and waited for them to finish— sometimes you and him would have to intervene.

You met the rest of the team at a barbecue he invited you to, that was the night he took you to his home and kissed you.

You felt bad. Not telling your family about him but god you loved having him without anyone knowing, but now Mack and your friend knew… and the whole Sharks team. Now you just felt like the worst sister ever. But not even did your parents know, until your mom walked into your apartment with your dad shuffling in behind her tiredly, it was supposed to be a surprise, you had a cheer event coming up and they wanted to be there.

Your father jumped when your mother screamed, you jumped up in your bed hearing the yell.

Will stood shirtless, only in his pajama pants, in your kitchen in front of your stove as he attempted to make the two of you breakfast. You threw off the comforter, running out into the living to see your parents standing in the entryway in shock as Will stared back at the.

Your mom turned towards you when you gasped, standing in his t-shirt and your pajama shorts.

“Oh my God.” You heard your friend say, assuming she came out because of the murder like scream from your mom.

The breakfast was awkward. You ended up ordering from somewhere so Will didn’t have to make more food for everybody, he attempted to leave but your mother forced him to sit at the table. It was halfway through the silent eating, the only sound being your friend’s loud gulps of her drinking. You and her kept glancing at each other every few minutes, your dad was staring at Will as he sat beside you.

“So…”

Your mom broke the silence, “How’d you two meet?”

You and Will smiled softly, turning towards each other and that’s when your parents softened up. Especially, when your whole body softened up when you looked at the boy beside you, of course they already knew who he was before that day but after that morning, they knew him personally and loved him. They were happy it was him.

You made your parents promise not to tell your brothers, they understood but told you to tell them soon… You wanted to, but you didn’t even know how to bring it up anymore— you and Will had been together for a while. Neither of you had posted anything about each other, obsessed with having nobody having their eyes on you as a couple. Nobody had seen you guys together when you went out, luckily. But you knew your luck would run out soon.

Now the hockey season was over and the family immediately made the plans to go to the lake house.

You were standing in the kitchen beside your mom cutting up vegetables for dinner, music was playing softly throughout the house as the boys sat at the table playing a card game. You and your mom would laugh when one of them would groan loudly. It was a perfect day, everyone went out on the boat together, the five of you stayed out there almost all day.. eventually you took your parents back but you and your brothers went back out. Once you came back, your mom was starting to prep for dinner, you and your brothers took showers before joining your parents in the kitchen area.

It was perfect.

Until Luke opened his mouth, “Who’s pretty boy?“

You stopped your movements, everyone paused for a moment to look at him confused. Glancing over your shoulder, Luke’s hand was wrapped around your phone, bringing the phone closer to his face.

You slammed the knife down on the cutting board and darted towards him, snatching the phone from his hands. Now everybody was watching, cards down on the table and Ellen stepped to stand behind you.

“Y’know, Luke it was cute when we were 12 and you snooped through my shit but it’s not anymore.” You gritted out, gripping onto your phone by your side.

“Language!” Both your parents sighed out, eyes snapping between their twins, Luke’s jaw dropped at your words and the scowl on your face. Jack and Quinn looked between the two of you with caution, wondering what the hell was going on. They both just assumed it was some twin fight.

Luke looked over your shoulder, your mom shrugged. “Luke, you know it’s not nice to go through your sisters phone.” She said softly, putting her hand on your elbow and pulled you back, closer to her. She practically felt the anger coming off of you, Luke’s eyebrows furrowed.

“But who’s pretty boy? He said ‘I love you’!” Luke exclaimed, you felt both of your parents look at you with soft eyes.

This is not how you wanted your brothers to find out.

Jack shot up in his seat, bee lining for your phone in your hand. He reached over your body, not expecting a hand to his face and pushing him into the table. Ellen gasped from behind you, gritting out your name.

“No, mom. I’m tired of them thinking they have to know everything!” You cried out, she softly rubbed the back of your arm with a knowing look, the three brothers froze at your words.

Jack grunted as he fell back into his seat, “So there is something to know?” Quinn kicked him under the table when you rubbed your forehead in annoyance, he was always the one to soften to argument or fight between the four of you.. not always, mostly. Only when the four of you were older, when you were kids it was all of you throwing punches and legs.

“No.”

“Yes.”

You snapped your head to your mom, “Mom!”

She gave you a look.

“Oh my god.” You muttered and sat down as she ushered you towards the chair at the head of the able, across from your father and between Jack and Luke. She looked back at the kitchen before taking a spot beside her husband who reached out and grabbed her hand.

You put your phone under your thigh, ignoring the buzz against your leg. Your brothers stared at you, Luke had hurt in his eyes knowing there was something hidden between the two of you. You couldn’t even act like there ever had been, you kept plenty of secrets between your brothers— never Luke though.

Quinn waited patiently, watching you carefully as you picked at your nails. Jack wasn’t looking at you.

“I have a boyfriend…”

Chaos erupted around the table, you dropped your head into your hands with sigh as their voice overlapped with each other and your parents voiced trying to calm the boys down.

“Who is it?” Jack turned towards you, seemingly remembering what this was about. “Who’s pretty boy?” He mocked, lowering his voice and you wanted to smack him. You almost did but your mom said you name softly, she warned how no matter what or who.. this would be the outcome of keeping this from them. Now it was time to find out how they would react about who.

You bit your bottom lip, “Will Smith.”

“Will Smith?! Men and black Will Smith?!” Jack yelled, sitting up, almost out of his chair. You slowly looked at him with a confused face. “He’s like fifty! This is illegal! Oh my god!”

You kicked his leg, “Ow!”

“Will Smith? San Jose Sharks?” You spelt it out for him, gesturing with your hands, the room went silent. Deadly silent. You couldn’t even bother to look at any of them, the dramatics of them having betrayal written across their face. You stared at the scratch on the table from the first summer at the house.

Then chaos erupted around the table, Quinn and Jack snapped their heads towards each other— eyebrows flying up so fast you bit back a chuckle, Luke’s eyes were on you though.. eyebrows raised and parted lips.

“This is absurd!” Jack yelled turning towards you finally remembering who this was about. “Since when?” His voice softened a little, eyebrows pinched together like it was all coming to him, why his little brother was much quieter.

You swallowed glancing between all of them, “A while.”

It went oddly quiet. A quiet you’ve never been used to, not with them or your home in California. You and your roommate were loud together, and growing up it was always chaos. You heard Luke swallow roughly as he clenched his fist in front of him as he looked away from your face, Quinn just stared blankly at you.

Jack broke the silence with a scoff, “You know how hockey guys are?”

You laughed bitterly, “What? Just because you three hoe around doesn’t mean he does.”

Your parents yelled your name, you rolled your eyes as your brothers looked at you with shock.

“He’s nice to me and we love each other.” You fought even though they had pretty much been silent, “I’m sorry for not telling you but this is exactly why.”

“You know we’d support you about anything… even if it was a hockey player— you know that was just a joke.”

“Bullshit.”

Ellen gritted your name out, Jim giving up on correcting you a long time ago.

“Listen, when we told you that.. yes we were being for real but not actually! Not so for real that you can’t come to us for months.” Jack said, leaning forward with a brotherly look but also anger.

Luke stayed silent.

You swallowed, “Luke?”

“I don’t— I can’t believe you kept something from me for this long.”

The room went silent again, everyone’s eyes on Luke as he looked at you. You swallowed roughly, your throat tightening. “I’m sorry.”

There was nothing else you could say, your brothers said nothing either. What else could they say? The family separated, well more of you leaving the table to go to your room and call Will while your family still sat at the table, as soon as your door shut you heard the hushed voices of your brothers and your parents trying to calm them down.

It was another hour until you appeared from the stairs, your brothers gone onto the back porch while your parents continued the paused dinner. Ellen looked up from the stove at the sound of your soft footsteps, smiling softly she gestured for you to go outside.

Holding back an eye roll you walked towards the back door and opened it gaining the attention of your older brothers, stopping their conversation. You felt small under their gaze, hand still on the handle like you might run back into the house. Quinn noticed and scooted to the side on the small couch on the porch and jerked his head, you smiled softly and sat beside him, the oldest dropped his hand onto your shoulder and squeezed it.

“So,” Jack quickly said, smacking his hand onto his thigh and looked at you with a look you’ve seen one too many times. “When do we get to meet him?” He tapped his fingers against the table, they all looked towards you, waiting.

You messed with the strings of your devils hoodie, “I don’t know, didn’t really plan on seeing him until I went back to California.”

“You can invite him to the house, Sissy.”

It was a nickname they’d call you when you were younger, it kind of drifted when you grew up, it lingered with your parents but they’d call you anything but that— unless they were feeling nice.

“I don’t know… he probably has a bunch of plans.”

“Well, ask him anyway. Just for a weekend or something.”

Two weeks later, Will was flying into Michigan and you had never been more nervous as he texted you he landed, you were sitting in the pick up line, constantly messing with something in your car or looking at yourself in the mirror or camera on your phone. You were currently looking in your console, it was messy and you cringed but couldn’t think of that when a soft knock interrupted your thoughts.

You flinched, snapping your head up and Will stood at your window with a large smile on his face— you smiled widely back. He glanced down at the handle and your eyebrows raised as you blindly reached for the handle to unlock the door.

Will slid into the seat smoothly, tossing his duffel bag into the back seat while also leaning over the middle console to pull you closer and you melted into his touch, awkwardly pulling him into a hug but it fit. He kissed your hair, than your neck, and pulled away, hand on your neck and pressed his lips against yours.

You made a small noise of relief in the back of your throat, he smiled on your lips. “Missed you so much, baby.”

You kissed him one more time before you fell back into your seat and turned your car back on, he buckled into his seat and immediately reached for your hand, your intertwined hands rested on the console the whole ride— music playing from your phone connected to the Bluetooth.

Will and you caught up on the past two busy weeks, he was spending time with family and so were you, plus a lot of the boys friends were in town like usual— luckily only Trevor and Cole were around for the weekend Will would be. You could deal with them.

You’d known the two as much as you know you’re brothers, they treated you like a sister and they were just more brothers.

“You nervous?” You asked, pulling into the familiar area of your Michigan home, glancing towards him.

Will shook his head, only humming in response. “You’re squeezing my hand pretty hard.”

He immediately loosed his grip, you chuckled bringing your joined hands to your lips and kissed them softly, Will responded by rubbing his thumb against the back of your hand, you kept his hand rested against your lips, Will felt his shoulders relax even as you pulled into a neighborhood and he knew it was yours.

“I think I’m gonna pass out.”

You shook your head, suppressing a smile as you drove down your street seeing the large house your brothers bought together all those years ago.

“It’s gonna be fine, they’ll barely talk to us.”

Will shook his head, leaning back into his seat with tense muscles. “No, like seriously, why am I doing this?”

“Because you love me?”

“Yes, very much. But—“

You pulled into the driveway, “Listen, they seriously—“

“Baby, I’m not scared of them.”

You stopped, “Then… what is it?”

“No, I am terrified of them actually… but like I’ve— I’ve played against them and looked up to them— fuck, not like— I don’t want you to think I’m dating you for them— I swear…. Oh my god. Take me back to the airport— I—“ Will rambled, you covered your mouth trying to hide your smile and he thought you were crying.

“Oh my god— oh my god. Baby, I’m—“

A laugh cut through his panicking, he stopped. “Will, you have to chill or they will make fun of you and they’re sitting on the front porch, you assumed they’d been waiting since you left after they begged to come with.

He actually slid down into the seat, you laughed loudly. “I’m making fun of you. Will, get up.” You grabbed his shoulder, he groaned as he straightened. “C’mon, scaredy cat.”

“Don’t call me that.” He grunted as you both opened the door, he reached bag and pulled his bag from the backseat.

Your three brothers just sat on the porch, watching as you and Will walked up the steps, his hand intertwined with yours— they didn’t feel or sense the death grip he had on you. Smiling softly, you tugged him to your side as he attempted to stand behind you.

You knew it wasn’t because he was nervous, that’s where he always stood with you. Pressed against behind you and arms wrapped around you, sometimes around your waist but usually wrapped around your shoulders and your hands held onto his wrists, every few minutes pressing your lips to his forearms.

“Brothers.”

“Sister.”

You chuckled, “You guys all know each other…. So I don’t need to do introductions.”

They all said their hello’s, you squeezed Will’s hand three times and he quickly mimicked. “So, I’m gonna show him the room and then we’ll do dinner?”

“Okay, we’re grilling.” Jack said, tipping his beer to the two of you as you stepped back with a wide smile. The three of them couldn’t deny the way their chests warmed at the sight.

But Quinn paused as your hand went on the door handle and turned, “Wait…” And you did, hand frozen against the handle and both of you slowly looked at your oldest brother. “What’s his room?”

“Mine?” You stated but it sounded more like a question, all of their eyebrows shot up and their backs straightened.

“Your room?” Luke choked out.

You rolled your eyes and opened the door, “Ugh, yes! Its only for a weekend and he always sleeps in my bed back in California—“

“We don’t need to know that.” Quinn cut you off, eyes squeezed like he was trying to forget that. “Just… no foolishness.”

You laughed, “Yes, dad.”

After showing Will your room and laying down for a few minutes, body on top of his to calm him down, the two of you stepped out onto the back porch where all the boys were, and your parents sat on the couch together, listening to something Trevor was saying.

But they all stopped when you shut the sliding glass door, Will immediately grabbed onto your hand. “Hey.”

Trevor and Cole lit up at the sight of you, Cole reached out and pulled you onto the couch next to him, your hand yanked away from Will’s, he could’ve sworn his heart was about to stop as he made eye contact with all three of your brothers and you fell into a conversation with Cole.

“C’mon.” Jack clapped a hand against the younger boy’s shoulder, Will joined them by the grill, hands in his pockets awkwardly and shy. Will could admit he’d never been shy or this awkward before, not even when he met your pants— and that was awkward.

But after they talked for just a few minutes, Will’s hands were out of his pockets and his laughter was his usual one that you loved, a small smile gracing your face even though your back was faced towards him— Trevor and Cole needing your full attention like usual.

By the time dinner was finished, Will was back by your side at the table, his focus was on something Trevor was saying from across the table, hands thrown around in the air as all the boys pitched stuff into the conversation— something about hockey, that’s all you knew before you drew yourself out of the conversation, turning to your parents. But Will’s hand rested on your thigh, your hand on top of his, he occasionally squeezed.

Soon, your mom yawned and your dad took her to bed, leaving you and the boys, you leaned back into your seat and brought your leg up.

“So…”

Cole said, leaning forward to see you, you rested your head against your hand, just observing their conversation until he did that and now everyone was looking at you.

“What?”

“How’d you two meet?” He asked, a smirk on his face, the question gained a lot of commotion, Trevor giggled. Your brothers leaned back into their seats, eyes on the two of you.

“Uh—“

“Well—“

Will smiled, “Go ahead.”

And you simply told them, how he found you on the side of the street, curled into yourself like a homeless person. Trevor laughed as he imagined the sight, you kicked him from beneath the table, and how he found you after every game until one time he finally asked you out.

“Still can’t believe you kept it from us for so long.”

You swallowed, Will squeezed your thigh. “Yeah, well it was easier being so far away.”

Jack smiled, a breathy laugh leaving his lips.

“Well, we like you, Smith.”

Will chuckled, “Thanks.”

The weekend with Will went smooth, a day spent on the water, skin burnt and limbs tired as everyone walked back into the house. You and Will fell asleep on the couch together, his head pressed against your stomach and arm draped across your waist, Quinn found you two when he went to find y’all for dinner, he smiled softly before waking you up. The next day, it was calm, games played throughout the day, movie night before you brought Will up to your room as the boys went out on the lake for a late night swim. You were glad they left, you felt wrong doing anything with them in the house— too scared they would walk in.

But Will couldn’t leave without feeling himself inside of you.

The next day, you went on the lake for a short time and spent the day in the yard with your brothers and Will, they welcomed him the open arms… by the time he left— there were inside jokes between the boys and numbers exchanged.

If he even was, that voice in his head would ring as he shuffled around the apartment. Jack side eyeing him as he mumbled in response and slammed the fridge shut, having to take a deep breath reminding himself it wasn’t even ten in the morning and how frustrated he was. Jack knew something was up but said nothing and kept his worried eyes on his younger brother, he knew what it was like.

And after practice, that feeling never went away. It was like it got worse, he told Jack he would be back for dinner and left the building. He didn’t know where he was going, he couldn’t go to yours because you still weren’t home. He couldn’t visit your work because it’s not like you could just stop stitching somebody up or practicing surgery just because he wanted a few moments with you.

So Luke found himself going through a drive thru and ate the food by himself in his car, he couldn’t even find himself to feel pathetic. Not even when he kept glancing at his phone, hoping he would read a text that you were on the way home.. it never came. Worry rushed through his body, it was late afternoon and you still weren’t home, he knew this is what you wanted to do.. save lives, but when the hours got long and he had no idea if you were caring for yourself— he couldn’t help but worry.

He felt his chest tighten when he reached out and grabbed his phone, not to click on messages, but to click on social media. Luke had never really been the social media type, it was his brothers fault— warning him as he became more known by the world, how cruel that world could be to somebody they didn’t know. And also the days where he could see the emotions coming from his older brothers as they read what was said about them online, he was lucky enough to be warned.

Luke threw the wrapper to his food in the bag and grabbed his drink as he began scrolling, switching between different apps. And even at one point, he googled himself to find many articles about him. Some praised him, how good he had been at Michigan and the transition to New Jersey, the comparison to his brother was always there. Than the others, trashing him and his game, how he was only there for his last name.

Luke Hughes heard that a lot, he was only there because of his last name. The comparison to Jack echoing in his ears as he stepped onto the ice, even Quinn, although with Jack it was worse because they were on the same team. It was like a battle with himself, proving that he’s there because he’s good. Not because Jack and Quinn are the best and he just has to be decent enough to be there because of them.

He didn’t even believe it anymore. Not as the words blurred together on his screen and a frustrated sigh left his lips, throwing his phone into the passenger seat and letting his head fall against the steering wheel as the tears fell, Luke squeezed his hand around the wheel, trying to calm his heavy breaths. The words of the articles bouncing through his brain, convincing him he wasn’t good enough and he never would be. He felt himself succumbing to them fully, that even as a person he wasn’t good enough and he hated it.

Luke grabbed his phone, his heart skipping a beat at your face staring back at him on his lock screen. He sent a text to Jack that he would be going to yours, not bothering to tell him anything else before he shut off his phone and started the car again.

Before he drove off, he opened his Spotify and clicked on a playlist you made for him. It was a secret at first, one night a few month into your relationship with him, you started adding songs into it that reminded you of him or the two of you.. soon enough there was a lot of songs. Luke was scrolling through your phone one day in the passenger seat of your car, you asked him to change the song and when he went to, he saw the large words ‘LUKE<3’ and a picture of the two of you looking back at him.

He shared the playlist with himself and leaned over the console to kiss your cheek, the brightest smile on his face.

Luke rubbed his eyes as he pulled into your apartment complex, parking the car and checked your location. Still at the hospital.

He dragged himself up the stairs and pulled out the spare key you got for him, it was dangling by his own house key. He let out a content sigh when the smell of you hit him, he went straight to your room and flopped onto your unmade bed. Breathing in the scent of you, tears flooded his eyes again and he didn’t even know why. Maybe it because he never let himself fully cry earlier or maybe he just missed you and all he wanted was you in this moment.

Luke sniffled hardly, wiping his eyes roughly with the back of his hands and sat up in your bed. Your room was messier than it usually was, work seemed to be kicking you ass as much as his kind was kicking his.

Instead of moping like he really wanted to do, Luke pushed himself off your bed and picked up the clothes on your floor and put them in your laundry basket that had a few items in it, he took the trash on your nightstand (some of it was his) and threw it in the garbage in your kitchen, he lit your favorite candle so you could come home to something nice. Plus, it was the bare minimum he could do for you, less than what you did for him… and Jack. While they on away trips, you cleaned their apartment.

The first time it happened, Luke was a little mad at you for being so nice and doing something for Jack too, not in a possessive jealousy way but in a way that showed he’s never really had somebody he liked also care for his family. Unlike you, who cooked for Jack also, making the three of you sit down and eat together instead of watching Jack walk back into his room with a plate of food. You who got added into a group chat with his brothers and constantly checked in with him, talking with them like they were friends also.

And even his parents, one time Luke was laying in bed watching a game as you were in the shower and left your phone on the charger. Your phone dinged a few times and Luke couldn’t help but lean over and check it, wondering who it was. He had to blink a few times and lean in closer to see it.

His mom texted you.

It was casual too, so casual he sat up and looked at it for a few minutes.

When you came out of the bathroom, one of his hoodies on and just a pair of underwear— he licked his lips but tossed your phone onto the bed. “My mom texted you… wanna tell me about that?” He asked casually, he loved it but he was so confused.

“Ooh, momma Ellen texted me?” You squealed softly jumping onto the bed with a bright smile, grabbing your phone and reading the text quickly.

“Momma Ellen?” Luke exclaimed, his lip quirking up as you opened your phone and your fingers tapped against the screen, you nodded your head without looking at him.

“Yeah, I talk to them all the time.” You said nonchalantly, his eyebrows shot up causing you to laugh as you crawled onto his lap.

He shook his head, bringing his hands to your hips, you shivered as his fingers pulled your hoodie up so his hands could squeeze your bare waist. “Them?”

“Ellen and Jim?” You said like it was obvious, Luke couldn’t help but smile as he leaned in and kissed you.

He thought about you as he finished picking up your apartment, Luke sighed and looked at the clock. It had been less than twenty four hours since he’d seen you but felt like days, he walked back into your room, not bothering to make the bed since he would be getting into it soon. He grabbed his phone.

Late shift again, I’ll be home late:(. I love you

Luke knew you sent it quick, only getting on your phone to text him since you didn’t say anything about his location being at yours. He sighed and ordered food, once the order was placed he grabbed the remote and put something random on, hoping it could distract him for his mind.

It didn’t.

He poked at his food as he tried understanding what was going on, his focus came in and out throughout the movie. He eventually finished his food, wanting to just put the trash by the bed but didn’t since he just cleaned.

Luke tried to stay up because he wanted to see you, but he couldn’t. He didn’t know what time because you didn’t say and he kept reaching for his phone, opening it the article filled with cruel words about him. His mind eventually told himself to close his eyes, at least sleep he could also escape his own mind.

It had been a long day, you were stitching up a patient on the forehead, hopefully to be your last one unless some crazy one came in that you would have help with. That how your first shift started, what was supposed to be a calm day turned into something hectic, you were supposed to have the day off and a night shift but you got called in at three in the morning— waking Luke up, he grumbled as he tried to pull you close but truly letting you go since he knew why.

You’d barely gotten time to check in and text him until late in the night, barely even having time to do that before a family burst through the emergency room, every single one of them bloodied and scratched up, yelling at each other making you cringe as the nurse beside you at the desk dialed 911 watching the scene unfold.

The patient you were given was only fifteen, he tried to hide what the truth was for the sake of his family until you guided him into a smaller room and shut the door. He still tried too as you softly spoke to him, telling him what the problem was and told him what you were going to do. It wasn’t until you started stitching him and started speaking softly again to him.

“Y’know, my dad, he uh, was a violent person sometimes…” You trailed off and looked at him to sense if your words would work, he slowly looked up at you with teary eyes, you nodded softly continuing to stitch him. “I took a trip to the hospital once, that’s when I knew I wanted to do this.. help people because of that night.”

He bit his already bloody lip, “What happened? Why did you go to the hospital?”

“My dad. He got drunk.. and he wasn’t a fun drunk, his anger only got bigger. Took out his anger on me and my mom, she always tried to shield me away from it but that night she couldn’t— he got to me. Is that what happened tonight?” You said, glancing down at the boy every few moments to catch him, then the tears fell. You heart squeezed at the sight, as he tried to suck in his sobs but they just came out more broken.

He nodded rapidly, his hands tightening into a fist and you bit your own lip. “You stood up to him.” You stated noticing his clenched fists, he snapped his head but quickly winced when you pushed his head to the side gently.

“You stood up for your siblings?” You asked softly, he nodded with a sniffle.

“It’s usually my mom. She’s the one who usually gets punished, until I got older, a man he says, and I guess that was enough for him to fight me. I don’t know what happened, we were actually getting along tonight and then… he just snapped. He threw my sister. Threw! I don’t even know if she’s okay.” He sobbed, you stepped back when you finished the last stitch and gently grabbed his hand.

“It’s gonna be okay, your sister’s okay, alright? My friends checking her and your other siblings out and they’ll be okay. Just like you, honey. The cops are here and they—“

He shook his head and threw himself into your arms, you immediately wrapped yours around him.

You were supposed to leave after stitching him up, the clock read 12:45 from your spot on the bed, you were off at twelve but you stayed by the kid and his siblings as the cops took their mom to be questioned, you stayed by their side as the cops came back with their sobbing mom and arrested their father. The boy hugged you one last time time before running to his mom who smiled at you through her cries, a small thank you for caring for her boy.

It was almost two by the time you got home, you sighed quietly when you shut the door. Furrowing your eyebrows when the smell of caramel and vanilla hit your nose, then you noticed the candle. But a smile graced your face when you noticed Luke’s shoes when you went to slide yours off, you set your purse down and quietly walked down the hall and peeked into your bedroom to see Luke sound asleep on your side of the bed, clutching onto your pillow like it was you.

You were quick in the shower, you would’ve honestly avoided taking one until morning if it wasn’t for Luke in your bed. You did the best to dry your hair with a towel instead of a blow dryer since it was two in the morning and his was asleep, grabbing a shirt of his from your closet and put your dirty scrubs in your dirty laundry basket, noticing how the clothes that were on your floor now laid at the bottom of it.

Smiling tiredly as you shuffled towards your bed deciding how you wanted to go about this, you did your best to crawl over him to get on the other side of him.

Luke groaned beneath you, hands shooting out on instinct, a noise left him when his hands met your inner thighs as you tried to get over him. He mumbled something, his hands shooting to his face to rub his eyes.

“Baby?” He tiredly muttered as he tried to open his eyes, you finally got your leg over him and smiled softly at him.

You kissed his bare shoulder, he was in nothing but his boxers. “Sorry, my love.” You whispered into his skin, he melted into your touch, turning over and tossed his head into your neck, you froze for a second not expecting him to be so alert, expecting him to mumble something and fall back asleep in your arms.

“Luke?” You whispered into his hair, snaking your hands around his body, rubbing his back slowly causing him to hum into your neck. He didn’t respond, just nuzzled himself more into your neck, almost like he’d hope he could get into it. You allowed the silence and just scooted more into the bed, throwing the covers over you and him as his hand snaked under his shirt on you and rested it against your skin.

You brought one hand into curls, tugging at the end of them lightly before scratching at his scalp. You closed your eyes as you continued, listening to his breathing, smiling softly when he pressed a kiss to your pulse spot.

And for some reasons, sleep wouldn’t consume you. You expected to be asleep as soon as your body hit the mattress when you got off, especially when you saw Luke in your bed. Now… you just couldn’t. You didn’t even know how long you were laying there, staring at the tv that just slid through multiple shows and movies, telling you Luke fell asleep watching something.

You thought he fell asleep until he sighed, too loud for it to be a sleepy sigh. “Do you think I’m good enough? To be where I am?” He asked quietly, you would’ve shot up and snapped towards him if it weren’t for the comfortable position and sleepiness in you, your hand just paused in his hair and you sucked in a breath. Luke noticed, his hand started rubbing against your skin and you continued your movements.

“Of course, Luke.” You said, no hesitation in your response as your hand stilled in his hair. He would’ve pinched your skin like usual but he couldn’t, his eyes stung as new tears formed in his eye-line. He was glad his face was buried in your neck, so you wouldn’t notice.

You did. When the warm wetness dripped onto your skin and his hand tightened around your waist and he sniffled too loudly for it he allergy’s. You whispered one word, so soft you were afraid he would break if it was any louder.

“Baby?”

And he broke, he scooted closer into your side and full pulled you into his, fingers scratching against your skin as he did but that didn’t hurt— the small cry that left his lip did, you turned so you were on your side and hugged him at the awkward position but Luke took it, wrapping his arms around your waist and dropped his head into your neck again. You didn’t say anything, just continued to bring your hands through his hair as his cry’s muffled into your skin.

You bit back your own cry and tears, the way he held onto you… you felt the nerves coming off of him. Like he was scared if he pulled away— you would be gone.

“Luke, you’re more than enough to be on that team.”

He couldn’t speak, another cry left his mouth and he pulled you onto him, the weight of you lying on top of him somehow calmed him down a little. It was now your face in the crook of his neck, his hand gripped onto to back of your neck.

You kissed the skin by his collarbone, gently. You felt him squeeze your neck, “And you’re way more enough to be here in my arms.” You whispered and leaned your head back to look at him, even though he tried to hide his face in your neck. But at your words he pulled back and looked into your eyes.

“Sometimes I don’t feel it.” His voice cracked as he whispered, his eyes were bloodshot red, you knew then he’d been crying before now, and puffy as he looked into yours. You couldn’t tell if he was referring to you or hockey, it kind of scared you. “My mind is a mess trying to convince myself I am a-and then these articles—“ Luke cut himself off, turning his head and tried wiping away the tears on his cheek but more just fell.

You bit your lip, Luke usually did a good job at not letting the outside world get to him. But you also knew, sometimes it was too hard for it not to when there words were so loud.

“And if I’m not enough out on the ice how am I enough for… you. For us?”

Then at those words, you sat up a bit in his arms, hands at the side of his shoulders as your lips parted and he refused eye contact. He’d already decided it— he wasn’t.

“Luke.” You softly said, your heart breaking at him and his words. “I’m not with you because of that, even if you were the worst hockey player— I would still love you just as much as I do now, but you’re not— you’re not Jack and that’s good, you’re you. You were picked for a reason, my love. Not because of them, not because of your last name. Because you’re good, you’re good on the ice and you’re good off the ice. You’re perfect to me and I mean it, okay? I don’t say this just because I love you—“

Luke shook his head, moving to sit up against the headboard with you on lap. “But you are. You always will.”

“No, Luke. I’m not. I do love you and I’ll tell you this because, you’re gonna have bad days, you always will in this sport— the best of the best have bad days. But you are good, Luke. You have to believe me when I say that,” You grabbed his face, fingers wiping away the tears that dropped onto his cheeks, he sniffed and leaned into your touch subconsciously.

“I always believe you.” He whispers softly into your hand, you nod your head leaning closer, he was expecting a small kiss to his lips but your lips met his wet cheeks and kissed away the tears— something he’d done countless of times with you.

Something in him stirred at that, a feeling he got a lot with you, never with any girl he’d been with. It was something that told him ‘This is the girl you’re going to marry and spend the rest of your life with.’

“Cause I’m always right.” You muttered finally planting a kiss to his lips with a teasing tone, his lip quirked up at that, snaking his hand around your waist again.

“I love you.” He pulled you into another kiss, whispering the words against your lips before. “For the rest of my life.”

You gasped softly against his lips, he’s never said anything like that. There were always small comments between the two of you that said something about the future but never so blunt.