tina♡

Tucker gets so nervous and awkward you think he’s breaking up with you.

You’ve known Tucker long enough to know when something is bothering him, you’ve been dating for long enough that most of the time you know exactly what it is that’s bothering him. But tonight is different, he had a long day at the bar because of a problem with the books that he had to straighten up so he’d told you to go ahead to the restaurant you were having dinner at by yourself and he’d meet you there.

But when he shows up at the restaurant you immediately notice something is wrong, you ask him if he’s okay and he says yes just tired and hungry. Halfway through your food you’re not sure he wants to even be here, you’ve been carrying most of the conversation until finally you’ve had enough.

“John” You put your fork down, he doesn’t look at you “Please just tell me what’s wrong, it can’t be that bad”

“Nothing’s wrong” He mumbles, you notice he hasn’t really been eating and that makes you feel uneasy.

“Clearly something is if you are acting like this. You didn’t put the house down as collateral for something dumb did you?” You try to joke, he doesn’t laugh, just takes a big breath and finally looks up at you.

“Listen” It’s only one word but you don’t like the tone he’s using “These past years we’ve been together have been some of the best of my life, it’s been so nice knowing you” you freeze because this sounds like a breakup, he’s breaking up with you right now, at a restaurant, in public.

“John…” You start to say but he doesn’t let you continue.

“No please, let me finish” He begs, he’s almost sweating now “I… I don’t want to be your boyfriend anymore” You’re fighting tears, telling yourself you won’t make a scene in public by crying after being broken up.

You’re looking down at the table willing the tears to go away as you hear his chair scrape the floor, you think he’s leaving until he kneels down next to you and pulls your hand into his, the other one holding the ring box opened.

“Will you let me be your husband instead?” That does it, your tears flow down and all you can do is nod.

People around the restaurant clap and cheer for you and after putting the ring on your finger and a kiss you separate and smack him on the chest.

“I thought you were breaking up with me you asshole!” You laugh, he looks confused beyond words.

“Now why would you think that darling?” 

“You were super awkward, barely spoke, and then started your speech with ‘it’s been nice knowing you’ and ended with ‘I don’t want to be your boyfriend anymore’ do you not see how it looks?” You ask, he looks shocked by the words as he sits back in his chair.

“Shit did I really do that?” You nod “Darling I swear I blacked out, I’ve just been so nervous about making this good for you”

“I’m willing to look past it” You chuckle “On account of marrying you or whatever” 

“You do know I’d never break up with you right?” You nod “And if I were to I wouldn’t do it in public I’m not an asshole” 

Dean’s so sick, you’re trying to reschedule but he’s not having any of it.

You’re in the middle of doing your makeup when you realize Dean’s been in and out of the bathroom way too many times for it to be normal anymore.

“Babe you good?” You ask when he slumps on the bed.

“Yep, all good” He gives you a thumbs up that doesn’t convince you.

“You know, we don’t have to go out today, we can just order in, something light maybe?” You suggest, sure, your hair and makeup are done but you don’t want to force him to out if he’s feeling this sick.

“No, don’t be ridiculous” He waves you off “You look so pretty we’re going out tonight” 

“Okay… if you’re sure” He hums in agreement, eyes closed as he lays in bed, normally by now he’d be doing his own hair and starting to get ready which makes you realize he really is sick.

“Honey” You’re waiting by the door, he’s coming out of the bathroom for, hopefully, the last time before you leave for your reservation “We really don’t have to go, I don’t mind rescheduling” 

“No baby, we have to go” He guides you out, hand on your lower back.

“Dean” You stop him “You’re pale as fuck, cold sweating and have been in and out of the bathroom so much I don’t even want to imagine why” You cringe “Please, let’s reschedule this, it’s just dinner, I’m so sure if you want to get a reservation tomorrow night you can just slide the host a few hundreds and we’ll get the best table ever, I’m seriously concerned about you baby” 

He sighs, holds his stomach and then looks at you “Baby I love you so much, but we literally have to go because as much as I trust they are not thieves, I dropped off a real expensive, real important ring there after work and I would like to propose to you with it, so please” He grabs your hand “Let’s at least drive out there and pick it up and then we can come back”

“You-“ You don’t even know what to say, he really just blurted out that he’s planning to propose, today, like that.

He chuckles “Yeah, yeah, sorry, I was hoping to surprise you with something better but I’m not sure I can get through a whole dinner without shitting myself so honestly the takeout and staying in sounds real appealing” 

“Dean Di Laurentis!” You slap his chest “You can’t say you’re going to propose to me in one sentence and then talk about literally shitting yourself in the next one!” 

“Sorry baby” He laughs “Now let’s go before I have an accident, I’d like to propose cleanly tonight”

“Dean!” You gasp.

Beau’s acting weirder than usual during your walk, then forgets his whole plan when a rip interrupts it. (471)

You’re at a park near your newly bought house, everything seems to be lining up for Beau and you, he got drafted straight out of college, has officially completed his first NFL season, you adopted an adorable older dog from the local shelter and recently closed in on a house. 

Today was supposed to be just another walk with your dog, you stop at a spot he’s taken a liking to and allow him to roll around on the grass while you watch with a smile, next to you you notice Beau starts fidgeting, then out of nowhere he starts doing lunges.

You don’t question it at first thinking it’s just Beau things and he’s just stretching but after he keeps doing it for longer you finally turn to him with a weirded out look “What the hell are you doing?” 

He looks like he’s been caught, shifts again to change legs, there’s a ripping sound and his eyes widen as he freezes. 

“Did your pants just…” You freeze for a second too and when he nods you burst out laughing, your dog throttling back to your side “Beau…”

The whole mood shifts though, as soon as he fulls a little box out of his pocket and scrambles to get it opens it, the exact ring you have in your ‘wedding’ Pinterest board laying there.

Now, Beau had a whole speech planned for this, he worked on it for days, weeks, made Dean and Allie read it, revise it, and reread it again, but in this moment the only thing he can manage is a pleading “Please?” 

Your face softens as you nod and get down to his level “Yes, Oh my god, Beau yes” You kiss him and feel him melt into you.

“Thank you for not making this even more embarrassing” He mumbled into your lips “You can never tell anyone about how this really went okay?” 

“Okay” You laugh “We’ll make up a story about this super romantic plan you executed” 

“Wait no” He frowns “We can’t start our marriage in a lie” You laugh again, your dog choses that moment to make himself known.

“Fine, but Joanna and Dean won’t let you live this down ever I hope you know that” You say finally getting up from the ground.

He rolls his eyes “I’ll find something equally as embarrassing for them. Now let’s go before somebody sees me with a rip down my ass” You burst out laughing again and hand him your jacket so he can wrap it and cover up the hole in the back of his pants.

He looks ridiculous, your jacket not fitting at all with his outfit but both of you have the biggest smiles on your faces and your dog seems to sense the good mood because he too looks ecstatic.

Garrett has thought about it so much, he started believing he actually proposed, so he’s confused when you haven’t made any effort to start planning the wedding.

You’re chopping up an apple for an after dinner snack when Garrett walks into the kitchen, he seems to be on his phone and not really paying much attention.

“Hey, did you figure out the dates to go visit Sabrina and Tucker?” You ask without looking up from the chopping board.

“Huh?” He looks up distracted, you pop a slice of apple into your mouth and ask again “Oh, uh no, not yet” 

“Okay, but I need to know soon so I can get Sabrina that gift I was talking about” You say “Oh! Grace said they also set a date for the engagement party, finally, so I put that in the calendar, you should be free since Logan’s free and-“ 

“Why haven’t we set a date yet?” He asks cutting you off.

“What?” You choke a little on your apple “What date?” 

“For the engagement party!” He frowns, you’re beyond confused “Matter of fact, why have we haven’t even started talking about any wedding plans?” He looks down at your hands “And why aren’t you wearing your ring?” 

“Did you get hit on the head that hard last night?” You ask with genuine concern “Doesn’t the team have a concussion protocol?”

“What? No, I didn’t get hit last night” He shakes his head “Not in the head at least” 

“Okay? Are you having a stroke then? Do we need to go to the hospital?” 

“The fuck are you talking about?” He looks confused.

“The fuck are you talking about? Why would we be making wedding plans when we’re not engaged?” You ask.

“But we…” He seems to have a moment of realization then, but instead of saying anything else he runs away.

“Garrett? Garrett you’re scaring me!” You call out to him, you genuinely think there’s something wrong with him and you are one bizarre sentence away from calling 9-1-1.

“Oh shit” He says walking back to you, you look at him with raised eyebrows “Okay I might’ve made a mistake” 

“What do you mean you’ve made a mistake?”

“Okay so” You gasp when you see the velvet box he’s holding “I’ve been planning this for so long I think I dreamt I’d done it and just ran with it” He admits “I thought I’d gone through with the plan, that I’d asked you so I was a little confused as to why you haven’t seem excited about it” 

“Okay and just so we’re clear, how long have you been thinking we’ve been engaged for?” You think in any other circumstance you’d be laughing right now, but you’re too in shock right now for that to happen.

“Like a month” He grimaces.

“Right” You nod, look down at the box, then up at his face “And… do you uh… ever plan on actually asking or are you content with just walking around thinking we’re engaged?” 

“Shit, right” He drops to one knee, opens the box to show your dream ring and finally ask, properly this time, awake, really ask.

Logan makes you mad after he is rude during your hike because you keep stopping to pet every dog you see unknowingly stalling his plan.

The hike was supposed to last 30 minutes, it was a short climb, one you’ve done a million times together, one you knew very well, and according to Logan, the perfect way to propose. 

But boy was he regretting his plan now. 

All your friends were up at the top, the found family you’d created had gotten together to craft the perfect moment for the two of you, but now you were racing against a storm that seemed to be coming fast that could ruin the entire plan and you were too busy petting every single dog you encountered.

The hike was a popular one for dog owners, and today those dog owners seemed to have tripled, usually Logan loved how enamored you got by the pets, not having one of your own yet you took every chance you could to get (and give) some love to the ones you encountered, but today he really needed to you get a move on.

Which is why, on the last stretch to the top, your usually polite, people loving, friendly boyfriend couldn’t take it anymore and had to take you out of a conversation with a nice old couple about their greyhounds with a rather rude interruption before pulling you along without more than a rushed ‘sorry’

You were so angry about it that you’d been chewing him out the entire way to the top, he’d been too nervous about popping the question that he hadn’t even been listening to your words fully, he just knew you were angry at him.

“You can’t just pull me away from conversations like that, I mean what he gotten into you today?” You slapped his chest once you’d made it up completely, the proposal and your friends were all a mere few steps away but you hadn’t noticed anything yet “That couple probably thinks you’re abusive to me or something now, that was awful Logan why the hell would you do that?”

“Babe” He tried stopping you but you weren’t done, not yet.

“Don’t” You put your hand up “You were so rude, they were in the middle of telling me about how they’ve have kept a puppy out of every litter they’ve ever had since they first got married and given the rest to their family members so they’re all one big family! They looked so proud of it and then you just interrupted them and dragged me away!” 

“Oh my god baby would you please just turn around and let me propose to you?” He finally bursted out, then added a “Please?”

Malone's - Monday afternoon

It's pouring so hard by the time you make it into Malone's you're drenched head to toe, you hadn't accounted for the rain earlier when you left the apartment so you didn't have an umbrella and you're paying the price now.

"Oh hell no" Della scowls as soon as you are inside "Go back and put on some dry clothes before you get sick. There should be extra shirts in there"

"Thanks" You call out rushing to the back bcause in your head if you move fast enough you'll drip less water on the floors.

Della rolls her eyes "Jean do me a favor and mop the floors, again" It has been a common occurence for wet students to walk in in the last 20 minutes or so and poor Jean is on mopping duty.

"Damn is it raining already?" Hannah asks when you get to the break room in the back, her and Allie are getting their things from their cubbies clearly being done with their shifts already.

"No, it's national baptism day" You reply sarcastically getting a chuckle out of both girls "I waited for it to clear out after my lecture and it didn't so I had to run all the way here in the rain"

"Aw babes" Allie hands you a clean hand towel that you work through your hair to squeeze out as much water as you can "Here change your shirt"

"Thanks" You do "So, you guys done for the day? Any plans?"

"I'm going to Sean's for a movie marathon and hopefully some action" Allie wiggles her eyebrows, you shoot her a wink.

"I have this compossition assignment I have been working on for forever and haven't been able to get quite right, hopefully the rain will serve as good ambiance" Hannah shares.

"Well, stay safe in the rain"

"We will" They nod and say their goodbyes leaving you in a now dry shirt but still wet everything else, sighing you decide to just get it over with and start your shift, at least the towel dried you enough so you're not dripping water anymore.

A few orders later a few of the football players walk in, Beau sending a smile your way and once they're seated you walk to their table to get their order "Okay guys, what can I-"

"Why are you all wet?" Beau interrupts you with a frown.

"You can't just ask girls that" Another player scolds him and you laugh alongside them but Beau still lookss concerned.

"I walked from campus and it was raining" You shrug "Most of it is drying already, don't worry"

But of course Beau couldn't not worry because if you kept the wet pants and socks you'd get sick and if Dean found out he hadn't helped you then he'd get mad but also he had grown to love you as a close friend ever since Seb and so he couldn't just let you get sick so after the team ordered he snuck out and got a pair of clean sweats and socks from the football bag he kept in his car.

"Here" You were trying to make sense of badly written orders when he presented you with the dry clean clothes "They might be a bit big but at least you won't get sick"

Your entire expression softened and you understood then that these people were not only there for your son but also for you.

Your apartment - Wednesday morning

"Shit you look rough" Are the words that come out of Tucker's mouth when you open the door for him.

You give him a glare "Just take the baby please" You motion to the playpen where Sebastian sits, thankfully unaffected by your cough attacks.

"Does Dean know you're dying here?" You don't reply and thats answer enough for the hockey player "Oh, that's the reason you asked me to pick him up instead of dropping him yourself huh? Don't want Dean to find out you're sick"

"You were around!" You argue but the raise in your voice just makes you cough more and Tucker give you an 'uh huh' look "Fine, I just don't want him to be here right now and we both know the second he knows I'm sick he won't leave me alone"

"You two still fighting?" He picks Sebastian up, the baby instantly regarding him with a big smile.

"No" You admit "But that doesn't mean I'm happy with him"

"I get it" Tucker nods "What he did was kind of shitty, but you know he did it because he cares right?"

"Sadly" You say "Still, I need some space from him"

"Gotcha" He picks up the baby bag by the door and moves to go but before exiting the apartment he turns to you "I'll bring by some soup after practice"

"Thanks Tuck" You smile at him and wave at your son, normally you'd be all over him with kisses and hugs but the last thing you want is to get him sick too "Bye baby, be good"

Briar U's hockey rink - Wednesday afternoon

The tupper in Tucker's locker is calling his name, ever since he'd started preparing it earlier and the house filled with the smell of homemade chicken noodle soup Dean had been dying to have a bowl, and when Tucker had slapped his hand and told him it wasn't for the house it had only fueled the desire, so now, while his teammates showered and prepared to go home after a brutal practice, all Dean could think of was who his roommate had made soup for and what were the chances he could eat the soup before Tuck came out of the showers (they were pretty high if he was being honest)

"Dean!" Logan shouts bringing him out of his trance "I've been calling you for like 5 minutes dude, Jules is asking you know where Seb's pink hat is"

"If they are planning on another photoshoot to post on the fifth line tell them the hat's at his mom's, if it's for anything else it should be on the bottom drawer of my dresser" The blonde replies absentmindly before turning back to the soup container "Hey, you got any idea who Tuck's cooking for now?"

"No idea, why? He make your favorite and didn't give you any or what?" Logan asks.

"He made chicken noodle soup and wouldn't let me have a drop"

"Huh, someone sick then?"

"I guess"

Hockey house - Wednesday night

Dean's in the middle of a heated makeup session with a redhead when Tucker walks in the house, used to his ways, the curly haired man walks past and to the kitchen where he dumps a few things he was carrying, Dean turns slightly as the redhead kisses his neck, fully intending on greeting Tucker and going back to what he was doing but then he freezes deattaching himself from the girl on his lap.

"Why do you have Geoff?" He questions his roommate who freezes halfway inside the fridge, slowly Tucker closes the door and turns around with wide eyes that he disguises as quickly as he realizes what he's doing.

"Geoff?" He plays it dumb, like he doesn't know the ridiculous name of the toy giraffe standing on the counter.

"Geoff the girraffe" The blonde gets the girl off of him plopping her down on the couch, she whines but doesn't leave, just makes herself more comfortable as he approaches the kitchen counter.

"Oh that's been there all day bro" Tucker lies, or at least tries lying but Dean doesn't buy it.

"Oh my god" He points accusingly "She's sick?"

He's already by the door grabbing his keys when by the time Tuck realizes it "Hey no" He steps in front of the door "She's better but you shouldn't go because then you'll get sick and who's gonna take care of Seb then?"

"Not you you traitor!" Dean argues "Get out of my way Tuck"

"Dean-"

"What the fuck are you two idiots doing?" Logan walking down the stairs is distraction enough for Dean to be able to slip past Tuck.

"Seb's sleeping in my room, you're in charge, Tuck's banished!" The dad shouts back as he jogs to his car.

"What just happened?" Logan stares blankly at Tucker, then at Dean's car speeding away.

"So which one of you boys is gonna take over now?" The redhead speaks from the couch reminding the two guys by the door of her presence.

"I'm on babysitting duty" Logan shakes his head and goes back upstairs.

Your apartment - Wednesday night

You've just gone over a cough attack when the knocks on the door start, you pause the movie on your tv and with all the energy you can muster you get up off the couch where you've been all day. In your delirium from how sick you are you don't even think about looking at who's knocking before opening the door.

"How long have you been sick and why didn't you tell me anything?" If your throat didn't feel like there were tiny razorblades scratching against it you would've screamed at Dean to get out that very second, but you're too tired to do anything other than watch him as he practically tornadoes into the apartment.

"What are you doing here?" You manage to let out, voice scratchy and rough.

"No, nooooo. Nope" He shakes his head, picking up a notepad and a pen from your coffee table and handing it to you "This is your new form of communication, no more talking" You give him a look "Have you gone to the doctor yet?"

You shake your head "It-"

"Did your sickness affect your hearing too? I said no speaking" He's so lucky you're not 100% right now because you would've slapped him for speaking to you that way any other time.

'it just started today

it's just a cold'

You write down on your notepad

'i'm fine

you can go'

"No, I'm not leaving you like this are you crazy?" You roll your eyes annoyed at his insistance.

'you're gonna get sick'

"I have an exeptional immune system actually, I don't get sick" He counters "Did you eat your soup?" You roll your eyes again and nod "Good, good" He nods "Are you feeverish? In pain? Should I get you some medicine?"

You don't answer and instead just plop down on the couch and press play on your movie, if he wants to stay fine, you're too weak to stop him right now, but you're still sharp enough to remember you're still upset with him, so you'll just ignore him.

Your apartment - Thursday morning

You wake up in your bed that morning not remembering when you fell asleep, the your sore throat seems to have settled a bit, you don't feel feverish and you're not immediately coughing but a headache seems to have arrived to settle your sickness for sure.

You do your morning routine and then head to the kitchen to refill your water bottle and try to eat a banana or something that won't make your throat feel like you're stabbing yourself again. In your kitchen counter though, lays a bowl of oatmeal next to a bowl of berries with a little note stuck into one of them.

'eat, hydrate, rest. ive got seb'

You know it's from Dean and you choke up a sob at how sweet it is that he tucked you into your bed, apparently stayed the night, made you breakfast and… you do a full 360, cleaned up your apartment? The whole place looks spotless, the tissues you'd left everywhere are now nowhere to be found, the counters look like they've been wiped away recently, the dishes are all stacked neatly on the drying rack and your living room looks the tidiest it has in a while.

Even though you spent last night acting like he wasn't there, he still stayed and took care of you. Does that make you forgive him completely for ruining a perfectly good date? No, but it does make you realize you're no longer mad at him in the way you'd been since it happened.

Briar U's hockey rink - Thursday afternoon.

"Okay bud, let's try this" When Dean asked if he could bring Seb into practice with him he had been fully prepared to have to recruit Beau to help babysit, because Jules wasn't available, but then coach Jensen had gruffly said

"Sure, you idiots take practice as a joke anyways so why the hell not?"

For most of the practice, Seb had sat on the bench with whoever was not being personally attacked by the coaching staff called out for drills and combinations but as he energy started to calm down and the team was split into small groups to run easier drills or stretch cooling down, Dean decided it was time to bring Seb out to the ice.

You'd both brought him to the rink last month but he had missed his naptime and was cranky so Dean didn't get to actually skate with him properly, today he was planning on changing that.

"Here we go" He slides smoothly through the ice making sure not to go too fast as to not startle him "Yeah, see, nice huh?" His voice is soft as he keeps skating, Sebastian looking unconvinced still but not upset.

"Look at you!" Logan skates to the father and son "Soon you'll be in skates bud"

"He's gotta learn how to walk first" Birdie points out skating past.

"As soon as he learns balance on solid ground he's moving to the ice" Dean says "But no pressure right?" He bounces the baby "Let's try a spin" As he moves he feels the tiny body tense up and clutch his jersey tighter "Don't worry Seb, I've got you" He reassures.

A couple minutes later most of the team has gone into the locker room to change and it's only the roommates on the ice with the baby, Dean and Tucker over their misunderstanding of the night before. Sebastian's more comfortable, giggling when Dean spins or one of the guys skates past him now.

"Time to do a lap with uncle Logan" The brunette announces taking the baby from his father's arms.

"Logan I swear to god if you drop him" Dean points accusingly, he has an immense amount of confidence in his teammates, that's why the team is so good, and he knows they would never do anything to intentionally harm Sebastian, but it still makes him nervous to not be the one in control when so many accidents happen in hockey rinks every day.

"I'm not going to drop him" Logan frowns "Don't worry Dean, I've got him"

And at first, he truly has him, the duo skate a few laps smoothly and easily at a slow-ish pace that is comfortable for the baby while Dean, Garret and Tucker watch from the side and talk about practice, then in seconds Logan decides to speed up and as soon as he does so Sebastian cries out, Logan stops at the other side of the rink and is trying to calm him but in just two seconds Dean's already there and taking the baby into his arms.

"Shh" The blonde tries to calm the baby who clutches him like his life depends on it, which, Dean supposes is what it actually feels like for him "You're okay, I've got you, Daddy's got you" He throws a dirty look at Logan and starts slowly skating away knowing they are clearly done with this now "I'm sorry, I know that was scary, uncle Logan is just an idiot"

"Dude, I'm so sorry I didn't mean to" Logan follows, face full of regret "I didn't realize I was going too fast, I'm sorry"

"You're good" Dean tells him once they're off the rink, Sebastian's cries have calmed down now and he's just sniffling into his chest "Just… hearing him cry like that scared the shit out of me"

"I get that" Logan nods "Really, I'm sorry"

"Don't sweat it dude" The blonde pats his shoulder "He's okay, you're okay, it's all good"

"Hey bud, why don't you come have a snack while your dad showers huh?" Tucker joins them, equipment half off, with a baggie of baby snacks from the baby bag, Seb's eyes tracking every one of his movements before putting his arms out to get carried by him "I'll keep him out here so he doesn't have to suffer through the stink of the locker room while you get ready"

"Traitor" Dean hums at his child who's already stuffing his mouth with snacks happy in his uncle's arms "Thanks Tuck, I'll be quick" Tucker waves him off.

I was high when I met you, life was somethin' to get through.

Logan hated the summer, while his friends were off at the beach, or visiting their family, or even on their own working a summer job, he was stuck at home with an alcoholic father and a mechanic shop to run. His brother had declared that this year him and his girlfriend had decided to actually take a vacation away from all their problems, a two week trip to Mexico followed by three more weeks around the US which meant Logan had to cover for him.

He was already high when he got to his childhood home, having smoked a joint Dean had left him with on his way there, irresponsible? Yes, but as idiotic as it sounded, part of him thought an accident would've been better than being stuck here. He didn't have a lot, leaving his favorite clothes behind at the hockey house and only carrying a backpack with the items he'd wear while fixing stuff up at the house or in the odd jobs he'd take here and there with neighbors.

The garage was closed, expected, his brother had let him know he'd closed shop before leaving just an hour ago, so he opened it up stalling for when he would have to go in and check on his dad who was probably shit faced already even though it was barely 2pm. Eventually, after smoking yet another joint he finally made the short walk to his house. Inside, his dad was sitting on a recliner, seemingly asleep with the tv on a replay of an old baseball game and a bottle of cheap alcohol clutched to his chest. The sight was pathetic and this was what his life was leading to.

"Oh…" A quiet voice from the kitchen door startled him "You must be John, Jeff mentioned you were coming in today"

"Who are you?" Logan was confused as to why there was a pretty girl his age in the dump that was his dad's house.

"Jeff didn't tell you?" You'd introduced yourself with your name and then told him about how you came in a few days a week to help with cleaning up the house and checking on his dad occasionally, he had no idea how Jeff was affording that but he didn't ask, not his problem yet, plus his brain was too foggy to catch up with more information than your name.

Ain't it strange how you saw me gettin' dressed in the hallway?

He wasn't used to being back yet, the first few days were always the most difficult, the shift from his life in campus as a popular and respected hockey player to whoever this version of himself was never went smoothly, that's how he ended with a whole can of auto oil on his shirt and pants, grumbling at himslef for not paying more attention he dragged himself into the house where his dad was once again passed out drunk in front of the old tv.

He took his shirt off and then his pants in the hallway on his way to his room, the fact that you were in the house today completely slipping his mind until you collided with his chest on your way out of the bathroom.

"Sorry" You said with wide eyes, you weren't blind, John was handsome on a regular day, but sweaty, shirtless, disheveled John was kind of unfair "I- uh, sorry" Yet you didn't move as your bodies pressed against each other.

"No worries" He was the first one to move taking a step back and to the side so you could be on your way.

After a few seconds you snapped out of it, feeling the heat of blush (or embarrassment, or both) on your cheeks you managed to blubber a "I'll uh kitchen" And rushed away.

Logan chuckled and went into his room to get fresh clothes to get back to work.

You could tell I was fallin', or escapin' from somethin'. You didn't say a single word, you didn't see me as a curse.

The first time you had an actual conversation happened towards the end of the first week he'd been there, Garrett had stopped by with pizza and beers, you'd been in the house and noticed that John kept Garrett as far away from it as he could. The hockey captain left a little before you finished tidying up the house. And just as you walked into the garage to let Logan know you were leaving a heavy rain settled in.

"I can drive you once it calms down" He'd offered after you asked if you could stay for a bit since you were walking home today.

"Thank you" You agreed and then somehow a conversation started.

You talked long after the storm calmed down, sitting on two old car seats you told him about how you were working here for whatever Jeff could scramble and babysitting your neighbor's kid whenever you weren't here as you took a semester off of school to hopefully save some money. He told you about his Briar hockey scholarship and his agreement with Jeff, you told him about how your mom had died when you were little and your dad had left when you turned 18.

It was dark by the time he drove you home and as you sat in the truck before getting out you had said seven words that stayed with him for a long time "You are a good man John Logan"

The state of the summer blends us in with each other. We would pray for more thunder, for a night under cover.

The week after he drove you home Logan almost forgot how shitty his life actually was, his highlight was when it rained, if he wasn't super busy with a car (which he barely ever was) he'd jog back to the house before it got too bad with the excuse of coming in for some water or a snack and you would both sit on the back porch talking and watching the rain. Or at night, when you were leaving. If you had your car (a shitty old Honda Civic) with you you'd park it in front of the garage and come in to say goodbye, if you'd walked that day (because you had no money for gas) you'd wait until he was done with work so he could drive you.

And the nights when it rained? Well those were both of your favorites.

We were huddlin' like mice, below an unforgivin' sky.

It was a Friday night when he was driving you home that the sky seemed to part in two and come down weeping out of nowhere. It had been too much rain to keep driving so Logan had turned on the hazards on and parked on the safest side of the road he cold find. Your windows had been down when it started raining and in the short time it had taken to put them up you'd gotten a bit wet so now you were cold and shivering.

"Come here" He'd offered pulling you closer so you were huddled together in the middle of the seat, his arms around you warming you up as the rain poured all around you.

"You know, when I was a kid I was so afraid of storms" You admit, he looks down as you keep with your story "I'd run into my parents room the moment I heard the rain start because I thought rain meant lightning and I didn't understand that it couldn't get me inside my house"

"Are you still scared?" He asked because he'd lost count of how many storms the two of you had braved together in the past weeks and you hadn't seem scared at all.

You shake your head "Not anymore, after I lost my mom I started taking comfort in them actually. Storms always meant being envolved in my mom's arms, so now when the rain starts I can almost feel her wrap me up and tell me she won't let anything happen to me"

Two souls in one truck, and no money left to lose. Teach me how to not stare at you.

Things between you shifted subtly at first, fleeting touches, silent secret conversations with your eyes and then fast in a blink of an eye, a deep kiss out of nowhere followed by makeout sesions that ended with hookups everywhere and anytime you had the chance and an infinite amount of car rides together.

Sometimes Logan would close the garage at lunch time and take you out for something to eat, other days you'd drive without a set location and end up in town or at the county line before turning back, whatever it was, one thing was for sure, every red light and stop sign Logan's eyes were set on you.

"What?" You'd chuckled once when you caught him "Is there something on my face?" You pulled the sun visor down and checked yourself in the mirror "Is it my teeth? You're supposed to tell me by the way"

"There's nothing" He'd snapped the visor up "I just… I don't know, don't take this in a weird way but I just can't seem to stop staring at you"

"Well, I don't think there's a different way to take that John" You'd joked "Kinda creepy"

And I felt the spiral of the earth when you finally called me yours.

It happened on a Wednesday, you'd been acting like a couple for weeks now, but neither of you had put a label on it yet. It was one of those days where here was no business at the garage and his dad was too busy arguing with the old baseball game on the tv to care about Logan not working so he'd texted you telling you he was picking you up from your babysitting job to take you out to a movie once you were done.

"I'll see you soon okay?" You crouched down in front of the little girl you'd been watching.

The pigtailed girl frowned "Why can't we have a sleepover tonight?"

"I made plans with someone else for tonight sweeetheart" You explained soflty "But next time I'm around we can make a fort and watch all those barbie movies we were talking about yeah?"

"Okay" The girl sighed in resignation giving you a hug to say goodbye, that's when she noticed Logan standing by his truck, he was parkd close enough that he could hear your conversation but far enough to not spook the girl "Is that who you have plans with?" You hummed in confirmation "Is he your boyfriend?"

You laughed and then, as if it was nothing new you said "Yeah, he is"

Logan swore he had felt the world reset, the colors around him exploding into something more vibrant, your laugh sounded more harmonic than ever and when you kissed him hello after the girl was safely inside you tasted sweeter than ever.

Once all the rain stopped, I was afraid you might wake up. And remember who I was, and remember what I've done.

For once in his life, summer ended too fast for Logan's liking and soon enough he was packing up the little he had brought over into his truck and getting ready to go back to Briar. His biggest fear? You deciding this ended with summer, that him leaving meant your relationship was over.

"You sure you've got everything?" You'd asked leaning on the side of the truck.

"Almost" He answered, you raised an eyebrow in question "I'm missing you"

You laughed at the cheesy remark "I've got school too remember? Gotta get back on track so I can get a big girl job and I don't end up being called a gold digger once you make it as a big hockey player" He hadn't even corrected you on the fact that he was not making it to the NHL because he had to come back here after he was done with college.

"You better answer my calls" He sighed pulling you into a hug and speaking into your hair "And it's gonna be a lot of calls, so many calls you'll be sick of me"

"Never" you replied "I'll answer every single one, and I'll see you for thanksgiving right?"

He wasn't too sure he'd be able to make it out this year since they had games sandwiched in between the holiday but he just hummed in agreement, he'd figure it out "And you can come over whenever you're free"

I grew up with a feelin' that what's good must be fleeting. That if I'm happy, I'm dreamin', then I'm prepared for you leavin'. But I see that shitty beat-up car, oh baby, there you are

Logan was tired, too tired to function properly as a person let alone a boyfriend, you'd driven to him last night all excited about meeting his friends and seeing him play but they had lost horribly because their new coach had messed up with their lines and everyone was in a sour mood, including him. Then Jeff had called to remind him of their plans for next summer and by the time he'd reached you, the only good thing of the night, he couldn't even get himself to be in a good enough mood for you.

You'd gone to sleep after a quick quiet dinner where you updated him on your classes and what had happened back home and he tried his best to listen attentively and make conversation as well as he could. Then this morning he'd left you asleep with a kiss saying he'd be back after his early class and had spent the whole two hours of lecture convincing himself that you would be gone by the time he got home later because that seemed to be the way his life worked.

He never let himself enjoy things too much because good things ended way too soon in his world and you'd been around for a while now, you'd make him so happy, made him forget about the ugly in his life so much that sometimes he thought he was dreaming, so the drive back to the hockey house he prepared himself for the heartbreak.

But then he saw it, the shitty beat up Honda Civic he'd worked on a few times now, parked up in the driveway next to Dean's shiny Audi because you hadn't left. And when he opened the door he was greeted with your sweet laugh and the warmth of a house full of pople that loved him, Garrett and Hannah cuddled up on the couch, Tucker pulling something out of the oven, Dean reading a text from a puck bunny out loud and you, waiting for him to come home.

Start of the spring semester - your apartment - early morning

"Alright, you're going to be fine, I'm going to be fine, we're all going to be fine" You say to Seb who stares at you with those wide curious eyes and gummy smile.

"You realize he's been to the daycare before and you have had college classes before as well right?" Dean gives you a weirded out look.

You narrow your eyes at him "What are you even doing here anyways?"

"Contrary to popular belief, I am not a deadbeat"

"Literally no one believes you're a deadbeat" You tell him picking up your tote and triple double checking for the 20th time this morning if you have everything.

"Okay, either way I wanted to drive you for your first day of school" He rolls his eyes taking the baby into his arms, Seb immediately becoming distracted by the chain under his shirt.

"You do realize I've had college classes before right?" You throw his words back at him making him scoff.

"Let's go" He turns to the door and then whispers loudly to your son "Your mom is not good at firsts, I should know, I've been there for a few of them"

"For fuck's sake Dean, I was not a virgin the first time we slept together!"

"I didn't say anything about that, get your head out of the gutter, I meant your first time skating, and your first time in New york, oh and get this… Your first time giving birth!" He makes jazz hands that get him a roll of the eyes and a push as you walk ahead of him through the door, he just laughs and makes sure the door is locked behind him.

Malone's - Later the same day

"I think I might just find myself a sugar daddy" You sigh stacking napkins, you're in the middle of a shift complaining to your co-workers and new friends, Hannah and Allie "I forgot how much I disliked school"

"You're halfway there" Allie shrugs "Your baby daddy is rich isn't he?"

"Filthy" Hannah adds nodding.

"Yeah but he's also… Dean" You say.

"Okay" Hannah drags on the word "And what's that supposed to mean exactly?"

"Well… we share a kid so anything else would only complicate things" You tell them.

"Okay but what if it doesn't?" Allie perks up "Like what if you two fall madly in love and it all works out and you end up being the perfect little family? You should always give love a chance"

"Or, we find out we don't work out as a couple and maybe we realize it too late and then we have a nasty split that leaves Seb in the middle of a custody battle" You shrug "It's too big of a chance to take, plus Dean Di Laurentis? Not a settling down kind of guy"

"But-" Hannah doesn't let Allie keep arguing.

"Listen, Allie is a romantic, she's going to keep arguing for you to give it a chance, so I'm going to play devil's advocate" Allie frowns "And say, if you think it is not a good idea then don't force anything, but if you choose to give it a chance, we'll back you up"

You're surprised and moved by her words, you have not known the two for that long but the best friends have basically adopted you in the short time you've been around "Thank you guys" You say "But Hannah, I'm not sure that's how devil's advocate works"

"Whatever" She shakes her head "You still got my point"

Hockey House - Wednesday night

The house is filled with chatter when you walk in, the guys have probably the entire hockey team plus a good amount of football players plus girlfriends in here.

"Hey! You're here" Logan greets you as you're setting your things on the table by the door.

"Yeah, something smells good" You say walking towards the smell curious on what Tuck's preparing for the group they've assembled tonight.

"Oh! Thank god you're here!" Beau exclaims, there's a crowd of around 10 guys in the kitchen, your son in a football's player you can't remember the name of arms throws himself your way the second he spots you, thankfully the football player has good reflexes and grips him tighter before safely passing him over.

"I am! What's all this?" You eye the kitchen counter while Seb slaps you with a wet 'kiss' that's more of a blubbering smack with his whole face "Oh thank you"

"Last night I couldn't sleep so I called my mom and she gave he all the baby pureed food recipes I ate as a baby and then I also got some more from a mom website so I thought we could run a taste test with Seb and find out what he likes" Tucker explains with an excited glint in his eyes "But we wanted to wait for you"

"Okay" You nod "And the party you have going on here?" You look at the full house.

"Oh, some of the guys on the team heard about it and were curious"

"And then Dean mentioned it and I might have invited my teammates" Beau adds.

"Cool" You resign yourself, at least you knew people would show up for your son if ever needed.

Some time later Dean has Seb in his lap while you sit infront with a spoon and the bowls, so far you've discovered he loves peaches, bananas and carrot and hates squash and apples.

"That looks like diarrhea" Beau grimaces at the bowl Tucker hands you next.

"It's literally just pumpkin" The curly haired chef narrows his eyes at the quarterback "And if your shit looks like that I think you should get checked up"

"Can we not talk about shit while feeding the baby?" Garrett complains.

You ignore them and give Seb a taste of the puree, he doesn't even give it a chance, as soon as it touches his pursed lips he slips his tongue out letting whatever little food had gone in out and squirming when you try to give him some more.

"See" Beau points "Diarrhea"

"I'm actually curious about the taste" Nick, a football player says and you hand him the bowl with a disgusted look, you've tried not to make faces so Seb tries all the new flavors unbiased but he's already decided he doesn't like this one and the smell is quite frankly, nauseating. You all pause and look at Nick as he takes a big spoonful into his mouth, the regret is instant and he runs to the sink to spit out and rinse his omouth making you all laugh, Sebastian joining in.

"Okay this is the last one" Tucker hands you the bowl, this one's bright green and when you look up you can already see Beau making a face at it "It's broccoli"

"All right, open up Seb" Dean grimaces behind as your son tries reluctantly, surprising you all when he opens up his mouth for more, giving you a satisfied hum as he savors it, you offer him more half expecting him to throw it out but he eats it and claps his hands "Oh he likes broccoli"

"There's no way" Beau shakes his head "Give me some" He takes the bowl and spoons some up bringing it to his mouth, Seb screams then making grabby hands at the bowl clearly angry at Beau for taking his food "Yeah, no, all yours kid" The quarterback grimaces handing the food back to you as everyone laughs.

Hockey house - Thursday afternoon

Garret has been awkward around the baby ever since he was born, being an only child and not having any younger cousins he had never been around kids that small before. Today he's the only one in the house, Logan out with Jules, Dean on a quick trip to New York for a family emergency and Tucker probably still on campus. His plans? To melt into the couch while watching as many of the Jurassic park movies he can get through until he falls asleep.

His plans, however, get interrupted only a few minutes into the first movie when you burst in through the front door with the baby bag in one arm and the baby in the other.

"Tuck!" You call out.

"He's not here yet" Garrett lets you know from his spot on the couch.

"Shit" You curse contemplating your options before walking his way "Okay, I'm so late, Tuck agreed to watch him over and-" Your phone buzzes, Tucker letting you know he's late and will be there in 15 minutes "Oh, he'll be here in 15 minutes but I can't wait so can you just-"

Garrett almost jumps when you plop the baby on his chest "Uh-"

"Tell Tuck I said thanks and I'll Dean will be here in a few hours! Thanks G, bye!" You don't let him get any words out before you're gone.

The brunette blinks at the baby who stares back at him with a gummy smile devouring his own fist, drool spilling down into Garrett's chest. "Okay… um… no, yeah, we're okay" He sits up slowly making sure to keep Sebastian as safe as possible "Do you uh… you like Jurassic Park?" The baby makes a noise and slaps him on the chest "No… okay sure, no dinosaurs how about um… what the fuck do babies like?" He whispers to himself "Oh i meant frick, shit, no, I'm sorry, don't tell your mom"

He pulls out his phone and texts a 'hurry your ass home' to Tucker who replies with a thumbs up and nothing more.

For the next ten minutes Garrett awkwardly sits on the couch with the baby in his lap, his duck plushie clutched in the hand he's not chewing on as he stares curiously at the man holding him and every time the baby so much as shifts Garrett holds his breath, eventually Sebastian grows tired rubbing his eyes and settling into his uncle's chest, droopy eyes closing and soft snores escaping.

"Great, now stay like that until Tuck gets home and we'll be fine bud" He whispered settling back into the cushions and pressing play on the movie again.

Just a few minutes later, under the heat of the baby on his chest, Garrett falls asleep too.

It's not until hours later that he wakes, Sebastian now turned the other way around, eyes wide on the screen that's now playing cartoons but still on his lap and Dean, Tucker and Logan sit around him with plates of food with their attention also on the tv.

"Welcome back to the land of the living G" Dean greets him shoveling a forkfull of steak into his mouth.

"How long have you guys been home?" Garrett asks all confused "And why didn't you take your kid?"

"I tried" The blonde shrugs "But every time I got close to getting him off of you he'd cry so I just let him do his thing"

"Okay well, take him" Garrett motions to the baby that's now looking up at him with a smile, completely unaware of the awkwardness coming from the man holding him.

"Fine, look for yourself " Dean puts his plate down, by now Logan and Tucker are watching intently "Hey bud, come with daddy" The baby's smile disappears the moment his dad puts his hands under his armpits to get him up and instead he complains with a screech and flailing of his arms "See? Seb, son, we need to change your diaper at least before you leak all over uncle G"

Garrett grimaces at the sentence "Get him off please"

"I'm trying!" Dean argues picking Sebastian off finally, the baby wailing immeidately "Yeah, yeah, I'm such a bad dad for not letting you stay with Garrett even though your diaper is full and you can get a rash" He rolls his eyes "So dramatic, you get this from your mom"

Your apartment - Saturday afternoon

"So this one then?" You're on a facetime call with Allie and Hannah while trying on different outfits.

"Yeah, that one makes your boobs look fricking amazing" Hannah says, Allie agrees.

"Okay great, and then do we think hair up or down?" You're getting ready for a date, your first one since before having Sebastian, a date with a guy from the Tennis club "Wait, I think Dean's here"

Lo and behold, when you open your apartment door Dean stands there with a bright smile and a paper bag he lifts proudly "Uncle Tuck sent some snacks for Seb"

"God bless uncle Tuck" You say letting him in "Thank you so much for agreeing to babysit him tonight"

"I'm his dad" Dean deadpans "It's not babysitting, just taking care of my kid while his mom has a deserved fun night out, so you going out with friends? Hitting Malone's, someone's apartment, what is it?"

"See, most guys don't see it that way, especially on a Saturday night when they could be out partying" You point out "And neither, I'm going on a date"

Dean chokes on nothing "A date?"

You shrug "Yeah" And walk back to your room to finish getting ready and say goodbye to Hannah and Allie. Dean's already texting Beau about it.

"So… do I get to meet the date?" He asks trying to act nonchalant and failing.

"Well, I'm meeting him at the movie theater so no" You tell him putting on your shoes "But if it all goes well maybe next time"

"He's not even picking you up?" The blonde asks in disbelief "Who is this guy?"

"Goodbye Dean!" You ignore his questions and walk out the door.

The movie theater - Just a bit later

"Dude, I've always wanted to do espionage" Beau whispers loudly to Dean, both guys looking obvious as hell as they stand in the movie theater lobby dressed in black and with sunglasses even though they are inside, Seb sporting his very own little pair strapped into his dad's chest too.

"Lowkey, me too" Dean admits "Probably not for this but hey, we have to make sure she's not dating a complete douche"

"Look! There she is" Beau points at you, the two wait until you're walking into the room and follow a minute later, somehow managing to make it to their seats, three rows behind you without you noticing "Are you sure you won't just think whatever guy she dates is a douche anyways?"

"No" The blonde frowns "Only the ones who deserve the title" Beau hums unconvinced.

The movie, as it turns out, is an action one that has Beau hooked, but Dean can't stop looking at you and your date, noting every move he makes and scoffing at them. Then, something in the screen explodes loudly, Beau gasps, Seb wails in fear, that's when you turn around and notice them, Beau looks scared, Dean is trying to calm the baby down and you sigh offering your date an apology and telling him you have to go before walking up to Dean, taking Seb and walking out of the movie.

Dean immediately follows behind but you don't turn, too busy trying to calm your baby down until he stops you by your elbow, finally you look at him with anger "What?" You snap.

"I'm sorry" Is all he can say.

"Oh yeah?" You chuckle and that's when he understands how badly he fucked up "For what exactly? For bringing our seven month old baby into a loud action movie and scaring him to death or for ruining a perfectly fine date for me?"

"Everything"

"No Dean, I don't think you understand" You sigh, Seb's cries have calmed now and he tucks his little head into the crook of your neck as you continue to rock softly "That" You point to the movie room where you left your date "Is probably the only guy in all campus that's not repulsed by me being a mom and you've ruined it for me"

Dean's heart breaks a little at your words "No one is repulsed by you"

"You don't get it" You are about to cry out of frustration "You are Dean Di Laurentis, girls bow at your feet, you can have your pick every single night, you get to keep your perfect body. I don't have that Dean, guys won't even give me a second look, I can't just date around or sleep with someone because they all know I am Dean Di Laurentis' baby mama" He hates the way his name comes out of your mouth like it's venom "And if they do, they see someone with stretch marks, and loose skin and-" You choke on your words "You'll never get it Dean, how can you?" He says your name and you don't let him say anything more "Can you just drive us home?"

Now, Beau did notice you two leave earlier, but he didn't think you'd forget about him, I mean, surely you didn't just abandon him at the movie theater right? Well, now that the movie is over and he's done two laps around the parking lot with no luck finding Dean's BMW he realizes he's been left behind.

"Damn blind idiots" He mutters pulling his phone out to order an Uber "God how I hope they get their heads out of their asses and realize they love each other so they stop doing this shit"

Hockey house - Thursday afternoon.

"Yo, whoever flushed the blue package baby wipes when they clearly say do not flush next time you're the one's unclogging the toilet" Logan wipes his sweat covered forehead with his forearm and points at his two teammates sitting in the living room "And where the hell is Dean?"

"Seb emergency" Garrett answers without looking up from his textbook "Apparently he lost his ducky and wouldn't stop crying"

"I will never get over you saying the word ducky" Tucker snickers.

"Dude, you've been singing the itsy bitsy spider for days" Garrett shoots back.

"She's a ver determined spider" The curly haired guy almost looks offended at the quip.

"I'll take the itsy bitsy spider over baby shark any day" Logan's putting his toolbox away in the cabinet under the sink when he notices the bright yellow plush he's all too familiar with "Hey I found ducky!" He lifts it up with a triumphant smile.

The baby's cries are loud against his ear when he calls Dean "Fuck you want?" The clearly stressed dad answers the phone, in the background Logan can hear you yelling at him for swearing in front of the baby.

"Now, that's no way to talk to your savior" Logan frowns.

"I stopped going to church when I was 12" Dean snaps back "But maybe I need to take this kid in for an exorcism"

"Stop talking about our son like that!" You complain, probably taking the crying baby out of his arms because Logan notices the cries are more distant now.

"Anyways, I found ducky" Logan says.

"I fucking love you" The blonde sounds so relieved, already moving to get his car keys "Seriously, this weekend, drinks on me and you get first dibs"

When you, Dean and Seb show up at the house a little while later you look like you've been in combat for weeks. Both your hair desheveled, your clothes crumpled and faces flushed and if it wasn't for the milk stain on your shirt and the crying child in Dean's arms, your friends would be sure that you had been fooling around in Dean's car before walking in.

"Hey bud" Logan regards the squirming kid belting his little heart out "Look what your favorite uncle found for you"

"You're not the favorite shithead" Garrett says from the couch.

"Neither are you" Tucker adds.

Sebastian stops crying when he notices the yellow duck plushie in Logan's hands, instead of loud wails he just hiccups with big wet blue eyes as he's handed the stuffed animal.

"I would so get mad at you for cursing in front of him but I'm too tired for that" You tell Garrett already on your way upstairs to Dean's room, probably for a well deserved nap.

"Here" Dean plops the now calm child into Tuckers lap ignoring the laptop he was working on "You're the least likely to let him die" And walks away "He's due for a feeding in like an hour"

"So when do you think mom and dad will realize they're soulmates?" Logan asks the sleepy baby over the couch.

Malone's - Saturday morning.

"You know, you could always just bring him in with you" Della offers, you're going over your new job as a waitress.

"That won't be necessary" You tell her "He's going to the campus daycare and Dean's looking after him when he's free, but thank you so much"

"Of course hon, just know the option is there if you ever need it. As long as you do your job I have no problem with the little dude joining you" She sends a smile your way and walks away leaving you at the counter with your breakfast.

"Here you go, sorry for the wait" Hannah, who you've learned you're going to be sharing many shifts with places a glass of orange juice in front of you.

"Thanks" You say back.

The bell on top of the door dings and you hear the rowdy hockey players that have become your baby's family and therefore your family walk in.

"Hey mama" Dean plops down next to you, Seb strapped into that ridiculously expensive baby carrier he insisted on buying "What are you doing here so early?" He steals your glass of juice and drinks it whole in one big gulp, you give him an annoyed look.

"I was coordinating everything with Della" He looks confused "The job? As a waitress? I told you about it last night when I dropped Seb off?"

"I was half dead by the time you dropped by" He admits "I woke up at 4 am for the roadie and didn't get to nap at all in the bus, sorry" He then waves Hannah over "Can I get the big daddy breakfast with extra sausages and another orange juice please? Oh and a coffee, one cream two sugars"

"You got it" Hannah mumbles.

Dean turns back to you at the same time as he grabs Seb's hands that are outstretching towards the napkins in front of you "Anyways, why the hell are you getting a job?"

"Because I have things to pay?" You deadpan "I also have a meeting with the financial advisor in 40 minutes, the school agreed to let me hold onto my scholarship but even then, the rest of the money is still a little too much and I don't want to drain all my savings like that so… job" You motion to the place.

"Thanks" He tells Hannah when she places the three big plates, orange juice and coffee cup in front of him "Why didn't you tell me you needed money?"

"Because I don't need money from you" You shrug "Don't worry, Seb's getting all he needs, this is just for my stuff"

"You know I've gotchu whatever you need" He says, your mom reflexes save his breakfast from Sebastian's curious hands smashing into it.

"Thanks but I'm good" He doesn't like this, but he knows he's not going to win the argument so he just hums already planning how he's going to increment the money he sends you for Sebastian in a way that you won't instantly notice "Hand him over so you can eat before he faceplants into the eggs"

Your apartment - Monday night

"So I was thinking" Dean starts, he's on the floor doing tummy time with Sebastian.

"Oh no"

"Shut up" He shakes his head "I was thinking, if we make it to the frozen four this year, this little guy will be old enough to come see daddy play"

You make a face "I don't know"

"Oh come on, we can get him those huge earmuffs and get the puck bunnies to bodyguard" See, the thing about the puck bunnies is you shouldn't like them, but you can't help it. Sure, they are known for sleeping with the hockey players, but if you really think about it, they have a type and a limited dating pool in the school but they really don't harm anyone and they are nice once you get to know you. Oh and they love your kid because he is Dean's kid so really, you have no problem with them.

"How about this" You sit next to him with a yogurt cup that will most likely be stolen from your hands in just a few seconds "If you make it to the finals and the trip is not too long we'll make it"

"Great, going to order the ear muffs now" You know he's being truthful because he's already pulling up Amazon on his phone, the season is barely halfway through.

The Hockey House - Tuesday afternoon

"Dean if you don't pick your shit up I will throw it away" Tucker's yelling up the stairs when you walk into the house with Seb in your arms "Oh hey guys!"

"Hey Tuck" You give him a tired smile, at only six months old, Seb's decided that sleep is no longer something he's interested in.

"You look like you're about two seconds from collapsing" He frowns taking both the baby and baby bag from you.

"Feel like it too, he's decided he's allergic to sleeping more than 20 minutes at a time" You drop onto the couch with a sigh.

"I can watch him for a bit if you wanna nap" You throw up a thumbs up, your eyes already closed "Okay bud, today you're learning how to make a peach cobbler"

A while later you wake up to find Tuck cleaning the kitchen whit the baby strapped into his chest while humming a country song you don't recognize, the surprising thing? Seb's totally asleep, mouth open, little snores, drooling all over Tucker's chest asleep.

"Holy shit" You whisper making your way to the kitchen "You are magical Tuck"

"Huh?" He looks confused, then notices your gaze on the baby "Oh! He's been asleep for a while, I was explaining how to pick the perfect peaches to him and he just conked out" He shrugs as if it's nothing.

"John Tucker I think I might be in love with you" Of course that's the moment your baby's father decides to walk into the room, furrowed brows in annoyance at your words because although you two are not together he's not sure how he feels about you saying those words to one of his best friends.

"What the fuc-" He doesn't get to finish his sentence though because you practically throw yourself into him to cover his mouth, he catches you by your waist pressing you flush against him, frown still present in his face.

"Shut up" You whisper shout at him "I've been trying to get him to sleep for forever and he wouldn't settle now look at him"

Econ 201 - Wednesday morning

"Dude I have a problem" Dean's sitting next to his new friend, Beau, in class.

"You have a lot of those" Beau keeps taking notes of the board "It's the reason you're a hockey player"

"This is serious" Dean insists.

"What level of serious?"

"Camille tried sexting me last night and I didn't text back" Beau's pen basically drops from his hand and suddenly he's not into class at all becuase his buddy needs serious help if this problem is stopping him from sexting Camille freaking Green back.

"You have my undivided attention" The brunette says, his whole body turned to the blonde.

When your name comes out of Dean's mouth Beau gasps, yes, this is very clearly a serious problem if you're involved.

"Yesterday she told Tuck she was in love with him" Beau's eyes go impossibly wide at Dean's words "And it's been bugging me ever since"

"No bro like that's totally valid" Beau nods "If my baby mama said she was in love with my best friend I would go crazy too. So what happened next?"

"She told me to shut up because the baby was sleeping" Dean continues with his story "And then the other guys got home and we had dinner and then she left so we didn't get to talk but-"

"Gentlemen" The professor called, the class eerily quiet around them, all their classmates staring at the two "Anything to share with the class?"

Malone's - Wednesday night

"So" Garret plops down next to Tucker in the booth, throwing his arm around him "How's it feel to be a step dad?"

"Fuck you talking 'bout?" Tucker asks confused.

"It's all everyone on campus is talking about, John Tucker, the dad that stepped up" Logan says teasingly sitting on the other side of the booth, Tucker's still confused.

"Word on the street is that you'r dating Dean's baby mama" Garrett finally explains making the curly haired guy choke on his water.

"Where the hell is that coming from?" He asks "Wait, is that why everyone's been giving me weird looks?"

Dean arrives then with Beau by his side, the quarterback dapping him up before joining his own teammates leaving Dean to find his roommates.

"Why do you two look like you've pulled the prank of the year?" He asks Logan and Garrett who can't help but to cackle.

"Hey Tuck, I can give you a baby of your own if you want" A girl walking by winks at the Texan who gives his friends a mortified look.

Dean gives the table a questioning look "Apparently someone's been saying Tuck's dating your baby mama and has become" Garret starts, Logan joins with a big smile and at the same time they both say "The dad that stepped up"

"Wait… what?"

"Dean!" You barrell towards their table "What the hell did you do?"

"I didn't do anything" The blonde raises his hands.

"Then why is the whole campus thinking I'm in love with Tuck?" That's when it dawns on Dean.

Getting pregnant during your freshman year of college had not been the plan. Getting pregnant with the biggest manwhore in your year and probably the whole school even though he was only a freshman too had been even less of your plan. But Dean Di Laurentis wasn't one to back out of a challenge, ever. So when you showed up at his hockey practice and shattered his world with two words, he didn't crumble. Instead, he nodded, asked what your plans were and assured you that whatever it was he'd be there for it.

When you decided you wanted to keep the baby and told him you didn't expect anything from him he hit you with the most outraged defense about how that was his child you were carrying and how he was going to do everything in his power to make sure you were both okay.

You were never together officially, Dean continued hooking up with other girls, now being extra careful, but still made sure he was always showing up for you. One night you called him crying at 2AM when you were five months pregnant because you were hungry but had ran out of the specific mango sorbet you had loved for months now and your back hurt and your feet were too swollen. He'd been in the middle of round two with a blonde from a sorority but as soon as he heard you crying he was already putting on his pants and rushing out the door.

You were way too pregnant by summer, so instead of heading to St.Barts, the entire Di Laurentis family huddled close in New York, your family having decided not to support you, to help you and Dean. His parents gifting you a unit right next to theirs so you could have your own space.

Sadly, the baby had decided to hold on until classes had started again. Dean moved in with the hockey guys into an off campus house, you had found an apartment not too far away that he had insisted on paying for , you'd fought him against it but ended up accepting an 80-20 split for the time being until you could go back to work, Dean hadn't even batted an eye at the money he had spent.

You decided to take the semester off to focus on the baby for the first months swearing up and down that you would be back to start your sophomore year, how? You were still not sure but you knew you'd figure it out.

Dean's friends had been surprisingly supporting through it all. The guys constantly checking up on you while Dean was in class and making sure to always bring something for you. When your water broke you had been at their house with Tucker and Garrett because Dean had insisted you stayed there as you were past your due date and he wanted to keep an eye on you.

You were on your way to the kitchen to get a snack when you felt the liquid splash down on your feet and stopped in your tracks. Garret looked up from the game they were playing and gasped "Did you pee yourself?" "I think my water just broke" Tucker looked at you then with wide eyes "What?" "I think my water just broke" You repeated looking down at the mess you'd made, then looked at the guys and with the calmest look ever you said "Someone needs to drive me to the hospital"

The next 20 minutes had happened in double speed, both boys helping you out to Garrett's jeep, Tucker with your hospital bag clutched all the way to the hospital, where Garrett yelled like a madman for help and it wasn't until the nurse looked at him with the kindest most understanding smile and said "We've got her daddy don't worry" That you all realized no one had called Dean yet.

15 minutes later you were in a room with Garrett and Logan when Dean rushed through the door with Logan hot on his trail. He stayed by your side for the entire 17 hours and 36 minutes the birth took and the moment he held his son he swore his whole world shifted in its axis.

The first week of Sebastian's life Dean refused to leave both of your side's, he missed lectures and practice and hangouts. By the beginning of the second week you called Garrett and begged him to come and take him away because he was driving you insane. The next four weeks were a constant revolving door of Dean's roommates plus Jules (Logan's sibling who had just started at Briar as a freshman) constantly checking up on you and the baby.

At six weeks you and Dean decided you were comfortable enough to take little Seb out, his first trip was straight to the hockey house.

Masterlist

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

The only redeeming quality of this date is honestly the fact that you won't have to pay for the food and wine you've had. This restaurant is not one you'll usually choose, it's not your style, too fancy and grand for your liking. Your date is… well let's just say you highly doubt there will be a second date.

"So you say you went to where for college?" He asks after finishing a rant about the latest crypto he invested in.

"Oh, I went to Briar!" You perk up a little at him finally showing some kind of interest into you "In Massachusetts, I-"

Of course, he cuts you off "Yeah, I know of Briar, it has one of the best hockey programs in the country, it was one of my options but I felt Michigan calling out for me more"

"Oh yeah, you play hockey right? I have friends who do too" You comment.

He scoffs "You do, don't you? Well sweetheart I'm in the AHL right now, I bet your friends have heard of me, I'm NHL bound any day now"

"Oh really?" You ask with a raised eyebrow, you don't tell him about your two friends breaking records with the Bruins right now "Are you playing here in Boston?"

"No no, I'm with the Islanders" He says, you quickly comb through your hockey knowledge, remembering Garret say something about how the Islanders were bottom three teams in the AHL right now but you choose to keep the information to yourself for now "Just in town visiting some friends and having dates with beautiful women apparently"

"Got lots of those?" You tease jokingly but his reply comes serious.

"A few, not a great dating pool around here honestly" He shrugs "It's just a thing of our generation, women trying too hard to prove something" You give him a slow nod curious to see where this horrible point of him goes "Like just yesterday I was out with this girl who kept arguing with me about how she wouldn't quit her job as a doctor even if she was dating an athlete like me with a packed schedule so she could take care of the kids"

"That's…" You don't even know what to say and thankfully (?) you don't have to say anything because he's not done.

"Like, you have to understand one thing about me honey, I already have a brutal schedule with hockey right now but as soon as I make it to the NHL it's gonna get worse" He shrugs "I need a woman who understands that. There's too few of them around now and I think that's the reason current legends like Graham stay single"

"Garret?" You ask.

"Oh you know of him? Yeah, total beast on the ice"

You nod "I went to college with him"

Your date laughs "Oh I bet you were running around behind him for a bit of attention huh?"

"Uh not exactly" You can't wait to be done with this date.

"Oh come on honey, it's Garret Graham, legend, if not for his hockey skills then for his legacy, his dad was a beast too, really look up Phil Graham" You're not going to lie that hearing him fanboy over one of your best friends is kinda funny, but the guy is annoying to no end so you start thinking of exiting strategies "I'm already on my way up there with him" He's not, you hadn't even heard his name until now and you like to think you are somewhat well versed in the hockey world "Someday you'll be bragging about having gone on a date with me"

You're still thinking about a good excuse to leave the date when the restaurant door opens, you look that way because anything is better than the douche in front of you and you see him, your best friend, Garrett Graham, he notices you too and smiles warmly.

"Holy shit" You hear your date gasp "It's Garret Graham, and he's looking this way, I bet he recognized me from our last game against Boston"

And no matter how much of an asshole this guy is you still can't find it in yourself to break his heart so you plan on letting him believe that's the reason Garret looked your way, but your friend has other plans because he approaches your table, attention solely on you as he leans down to pull you into a warm hug and kissing the side of your head on his way up.

"Hey Tink! What are you doing here?" He asks, the nickname he gave you years ago flowing out, your date, who still hasn't been aknowledged stares in absolute shock.

"Hi Gar, I'm uh… dinner" You motion to the guy sitting in front of you and Garret finally turns his way.

"Oh hey man" He greets with a nod and his attention is back on you "You gonna introduce me to your friend?"

"This is Dave" You don't have to say anything else, Garrett has always been an expert in reading you, he already clocked how this date is going.

"Well, nice to meet you Dave" His words are polite but there's none of the warmth he's had towards you "I'm just here for a quick meeting with my agent, but why don't you wait at the bar for me when you're done here? 15 minutes top?" You nod and he leans down to kiss your forehead again "I'll open up a tab and have your drink waiting for when you're ready" Then he turns to Dave and says "Nice to meet you Gabe" And he leaves.

You fight a chuckle and see his shoulders shaking as he walks away.

A little later, Garrett's turning on the engine of his Jeep, a newer model of the one he had back in college, but before he pulls out of the parking lot he speaks "I just don't know why you insist on going out with those idiots when I'm right here"

"What and miss Dave's NHL debut?" You joke but you know he's right and you're not sure why you're still going out on pointless dates "I heard Bridgeport might have a chance at the playoffs this season, I might get a WAG jacket"

"He's in the AHL?" Garret makes a face, you nod with a laugh "Tink, the chances of Bridgeport making it to the playoffs are lower than Dean being able to recreate Tuck's chicken pot pie recipe successfuly" You burst out laughing remembering the time you had to call the fire department because Tucker was away visiting his mom in Texas and Dean insisted he just had to have chicken pot pie.

"Holy shit I'd forgotten about that" You wipe tears out of your eyes "The firefighters looked so disappointed when Dean asked if he could still eat the food"

Garett looks at you with a wide smile and loving stare "Do you think the WAGs will give me a discount for the fee because we're halfway through the season already?" His question could be taken as a joke, but you know him and you know he's being earnest "Or will they charge me a late fee? What size jacket do you wear? And you can't get mad at me for not knowing, you always end up stealing mine anyways but I don't think you want a Garrett sized WAG jacket"

An Easter in New York.

Co-parenting long(er) distance surprisingly doesn't take too much work to get used to, the timezone change makes it so that Joe and Caroline can have calls before school multiple times a day which helps her troubles at drop off. Joe flies back to San Jose for her birthday which she celebrates with cupcakes and pizza at school and then cake at home with you, Joe, your sister and her boyfriend but when the holidays role around there's an awkward air floating around.

For as long as you've been together, your little family has spent Christmas and New Years with the Keerys. This year you compromise and fly to Massachusetts alongside your daughter and sister where you get a hotel against the family's insistance for you to stay with them like always, instead you spend Christmas morning opening presents with them retreating before dinner.

Joe hates that it's come to this. He hates everything about the situation, how there's two chairs missing at the dinner table, for you and your sister, hates how cold his bed feels without you in it at night, but most of all, he hates himself for putting you in this situation to begin with.

The day after Christmas you come over to say goodbye to everyone, Caroline is staying behind and celebrating New Years here while you do so in California. Once again, Joe's family try to convince you to cancel your flight, stay here, there's even the implication of kicking Joe out to stay at a hotel himself, he agrees to the suggestion quickly, you deny it and fly out.

The regret is instant when you wake up on with a massive headache at an unfamiliar hotel room next to a stranger on New Years Day. You fight a nasty nausea all the way to your house, not sure if it comes from your hangover, the fear of the man going online and posting about it, or the sheer regret of what you did. It takes a few days for you to shake the whole thing off, after there's no posts about it online that part of your fear goes away, but you still feel dirty about the situation.

You've never been one for one night stands, figuring out quickly the summer after high school that sex was always linked with intimacy for your brain and that it made you become attached, that's why you always strayed away from hookups, that's why Sawyer's words had hurt so much back when he dumped you. This time around though, your night with the stranger didn't make you wish for more with him, it just confirmed that you were absolutely not over Joe.

Spring Break comes around lining up perfectly with the beginning of The Hunger Games press tour in New York and Easter meaning Caroline gets to spend it with Joe. His plan took, in Joe's opinion, a ridiculous amount of time, but somehow he convinved you to spend the weekend with him at one of his friends' country house.

So here you are, Saturday afternoon, after two days of media scheduled all day, standing on the hallway of his new apartment. You haven't been here before, but you know he quickly got to work to transform what was meant to be a guest room into Caroline's bedroom, and that he also has a home studio in the other guest room and honestly, you always act like you're not paying attention when he calls Caroline at nights but you always are, so much so that you think you may have memorized the layout of the apartment by now,

"Hey!" He opens the door with a big smile "Come in, come in, Care's just finishing up her snack and then we can go" He takes your bag from your hand, just a small duffel with essentials.

"Mommy, over here!" Caroline squealed running through the yard. The kids, Joe's friend's, running around looking for eggs while you and another mom, Hattie, walk behind them chatting.

Joe was looking from the deck while having a beer with his friends "So…. have you decided to get your head out of your ass and get your girl back?" Colbyn asks, They've been friends since college, plus he's Cassie's older brother so they inevitably ran in the same circles more often than not.

"Dunno what you're talking about" He takes another sip of her beer.

"Oh come on, you're an actor, at least try to act better" Colbyn laughed "You're looking at her like it hurts you to be away from her sidewhen she's like 10 feet away"

"When the hell did you become a philosopher?" Joe asks with a raised brow.

"Shit bro, it's the dad wisdom" He jokes, Colbyn and his wife just welcomed a baby not too long ago and the shift from the Colbyn he knew back in college to Dad Colbyn is astronomical "You should use some of yours for more than just writing songs"

"I'm giving her time and space" Joe sighs "It's complicated"

"You love her, she loves you, you're both just too stubborn to do anything about it" Colbyn's wife, Maria approaches handing him the baby "Hey dude, wanna hang out with uncle Joey?"

In a matter of seconds Joe has a month old baby in his arms and his beer is long forgotten as Colbyn and Maria retreat to the couches a few steps away.

"Daddy!" Caroline comes barreling but he manages to shift the baby so she doesn't crash into him, her mouth agape in awe at the tiny human in his arms "Woah, he's little"

"Yes he is" Joe nods with a smile "So we have to be careful"

Caroline nods and they both sit on the porch stairs "Was I ever this little?"

Joe's stunned by her question, he wants to say yes but the truth is he doesn't really know, he wasn't around until she was a few months older "You were" You come to the rescue settling next to Caroline who quickly settles in your lap "But you grew up real quick. Too quick actually"

"Huh" The little girl hums "Do you have pictures?"

"I do" You nod "Wanna see them?"

It's her turn to nod "With daddy?"

"I'm sorry babe, I don't have pictures of you and daddy when you were that little, but i do have some from when you were just a little bit older"

"Still a baby?"

"Still a baby"

"You were the cutest baby ever" Joe adds.

"He's cute" Your daughter seems to have moved on from the pictures because her whole attention is back on the baby "Can I hold him?"

"You've gotta be real careful okay?" Joe moves him so he rests in Caroline's lap who is in your lap so really you're holding both of the making sure that his head is properly supported.

"Woah" Caroline lets out and yeah, the sentiment is mutual for Joe "Can we get one?"

"Some day, maybe" You tell her and Joe's not sure if you mean it or if you consider him a part of that some day but he knows then and there for sure that he's gonna do everything in his power from now on so he is.

You wake up early the next morning, too early. Your daughter has always been an early riser, you not so much, but you can't leave your five year old alone in a strange house so you get up with her and you both head out to the backyard so you don't wake the rest of the people in the house.

You're sitting on the porch steps while Caroline plays in the outdoor playground they have here when Joe walks out, he has two cups of coffee and hands you one before sitting next to you. It's been a while since you two were like this.

"You sleep well?" He asks, you hum in agreement "Too early huh?"

"Way too early" You groan "Why are you up?"

"I got used to her schedule and never got out of it" He shrugs. Joe used to be the one up with her in the mornings when you lived together most of the time.

"Oh"

He nods "I've missed this" You don't say anything, just sip on your coffee, truth is seeing them together all day yesterday and spending time all together brought you back to the way things were even if only for the moment "What are we doing?"

"I don't know" You whisper because it's true, you miss it too, but you're not sure how to go back to the way it was so instead of trying to come up with something you just place your head on his shoulder, he moves closer melting into you.

"Daddy!" Caroline approaches and you think the momen'ts gone but Joe just scoops her into his lap and once she's settled he puts his free arm around you.

You stay like that for a while, Caroline having gotten a lot of her energy out laid comfortably against his chest, you snuggled into his side while sipping your coffee, there's no words exchanged but they are not needed, not yet.

"Auntie Cass is home!" Her voice travels through the open back doors and you wake up from whatever haze you were in, you move away and tense up because what the hell are you doing? Joe is not your anymore, last you saw him and Cass were getting close so why are you playing house with him right now?

"I- I shouldn't have… I'm sorry" You say with wide eyes then get up "I'm gonna go pack"

Joe looks confused by the sudden change "I brought breakfast as an apology from missing yesterday, get in here before the good donuts get taken" Cass pokes her head out.

"Come on Care-bear" He gets up with the girl still in his arms and sits her down at the table looking at Maria "Can you watch her for a minute?" The woman nods already asking Caroline what she'd like.

He doesn't knock when he reaches the guest room where you and Caroline were staying and walks in to see you sitting on the bed with your open bag next to you and your head in your hands. He says your name softly but you don't look up because you know if you do you'll break down.

"Come on baby talk to me what happened?" The pet name comes out so naturally he doesn't even register it.

"I can't" You shake your head.

"You can't what?" You feel the mattress shift as he sits next to you "Please talk to me"

"I can't let myself do that again" You finally admit "I don't know if I can be around you anymore" Joe swears he hears his own heart crack right there "Because you're not mine anymore and apparently my heart hasn't gotten the memo yet. And it's not fair because Cass seems lovely and the last thing I want to do is come between you but then it's just us three and I… I don't know, I forget things are different now"

Joe's frowning now because he has no ide where the Cass thing is coming from "I don't have anything going on with Cass, or anyone actually, she's just a friend, Kate and her have been best friends for as long as I can remember and Colbyn's her brother, we met in college and became friends because our sisters were" He explains "I don't hold any feeling for her that are not platonic. And yes, things are diferent between us, but I kinda hate it" You are looking at him now, teary eyes and confusion in your face "Please don't cry honey" He reaches over and wipes your cheeks "I miss you and I miss Caroline and I wish things could just go back to the way they were" You're about to say something but he doesn't let you "And I know that can't just magically happen overnight and I have been trying to be patient for you but it's killing me so please baby, tell me you feel the same, tell me there's something we can do to try"

You don't even know what to say, you just drop your head into his chest and keep crying because you're feeling everything you've kept bottled in so deeply right now. "I'm sorry" You apologize between sobs.

"You have nothing to apologize for" He rubs your back and kisses the top of your head.

"I miss you so much" You let out, he holds you tighter.

And things will not go back to normal instantly, you know there's a lot of work you'll need to do, and you're still living in different parts of the country, but you choose to put in the work, you choose to give it another chance because this is your family, Joe, Caroline and you.