tina♡

Elowen Muller was already a known patient in the ER when you started working there. She came in at least once a month no matter how much her family tried to keep her out of there, sometimes it was because of a medical complication, sometimes her dementia made her get into accidents and sometimes it was nothing at all but she would insist she felt like she was dying.

She had, for some reason, taken a liking to you on your first week working there and even through the episodes where she couldn't remember her name the fondness to you peaked through.

"Hey, psst" She called on your third day working at the pitt "Sneak me a soda and I'll give you one of these" She showed you one of those candies old people always had yet you never saw in the stores "Come on, I'll give you three"

"I'll see what I can do" You nodded.

Later when you'd gotten confirmation that because of her sugar levels she was not allowed to have a soda you brought her a box of sugar free juice and she'd given you the dirtiest look she could muster she mumbled something about young people not respecting their elders and you'd walked off containing your laughter as she still sipped on her juice greedily.

Then Mateo came into the picture, you had already been working there for a year, Elowen was still coming in regularly and the first time she saw him she'd let out a whistle and whispered shouted to you "That one's mine" Mateo had just laughed and continued his work.

The first time she decided she was going to get you and Mateo together, there were several revelations during her episodes, was on one of her visits because of dehydration. She was in observation while hooked up on an IV and completely stable, her family had just stepped out 10 minutes before to get lunch when the alarms started blaring, she was coding.

You rushed in alongside Robby, Princess and Mateo to find her sitting on her bed looking completely fine. When Robby approached her to check up on her vitals she put her hand up and stopped him "You are not touching me"

"I'm sorry Mrs. Muller, we need to make sure you're okay, this machine here told us you had lost your pulse" Robby explained "If you're not comfortable with me looking you over then maybe one of our female staff can check you up?"

But then you took a step closer and for the first time in a while she gave you an annoyed look "No, you can't touch me either"

"Mrs. Muller" You tried "We need to-"

"Why are you always here? Don't you have a man or something?" You saw Robby's eyebrows shoot up in amusement before slipping out of the room deciding you three had it under control as Mrs. Muller didn't seem to be in any immediate danger.

"No I don't, too busy making sure my patients don't die on me actually so would you please let us do out jobs?" You asked, she shook her head.

"None of you are touvhing me, only him" She pointed at Mateo and Princess and you tried not to laugh when you realized what was happening "You can come here and check me everywhere handsome"

"All yours Nurse Diaz" You gave him a teasing smile, he looked taken aback.

"Do you have a girlfriend?" Mrs. Muller asked once mateo started checking her vitals.

"No ma'am"

"Oh there's no way no one has snatched you up!" She grabbed a hold of his bicep, Mateo kept working as if that was a normal thing, or maybe he just wanted to get it over with "I would but my husband would get real jealous, nowadays I only get to see and not touch"

"Well then careful he doesn't catch you right now" Princess told her, she waved her off.

"Look, you do't have a girlfriend, she doesn't have a man and god knows she needs a little sugar you should give her some" You raised your eyebrows at her words, Mateo choke on nothing and Princess bursted out laughing "Yes, yes, you two would be perfect"

You left the room after confirming she was okay and making her promise she wouldn't pull on any wires anymore and Princess rushed away no doubt to tell everyone in the nurses station about your interaction with Mrs.Muller.

"So" Mateo spoke first "About that sugar"

You laughed "She's something alright. That was the first time she didn't let me check on her by the way"

"She got a new favorite" He smirked smugly.

"You tell me if you still like that idea tonight after she's made you come in five different times because she was bored or wanted a soda she can't have"

That night when it was time to go home after your shift Mateo found you by your locker "Hey"

"Hey" You were so tired all you wanted was to go home, take a shower and have dinner in bed while watching New Girl.

"I uh…" He fidgeted with the straps of his backpack "Do you wanna go have dinner with me?"

You turned with a raised eyebrow "You really asking me out right now?"

He chuckled "Doesn't have to be anything fancy, some burgers and fries in the car? I can drop you off home afterwards" He knew you walked home every night, you lived only a few streets away from the hospital and found out pretty quickly that taking your car actually made the commute longer than walking because of the traffic.

"You know what? Sure, but only if we go to that place on Main with the cheesy bacon heart attack inducing burgers"

He chuckled but nodded "Completed with potato wedges and all"

Neither of you called it a date, but down the line when you were asked about your first date you always referred to that night.

You two grew closer over the next months, sometimes you'd meet him in the morning with a coffee at the beginning of your shift, other times you'd go out for dinner after and whenever you had a free day and swore all you wanted was to stay at home and enjoy the peace and quiet of living alone you still found yourself texting him to come over.

Mrs.Muller still tried to set you up whenever she was around, one time when she'd said something that made you laugh full on she'd said "You have good teeth, you'd be worth a lot if you were a horse"

Her daughter had gasped "Mom!" And apologized extensively but Mrs. Muller hadn't relented.

"See that?" She'd asked Mateo "Good teeth genetics, for your future kids"

Safe to say while you and Mateo laughed at the absurdity of the situation her poor daughter looked like she'd rather be anywhere but there.

Eventually, one day, years after, when you and Mateo were already together, Mrs. Muller came in for a complication with a past pneumonia. You hadn't been on shift when she came in and she hadn't been lucid at all that night, but when she woke up in the morning to you checking her vitals it had been as if her dementia was simply an exaggeration.

"Dear, how's Mateo? You two find a place yet?" You'd told her two months ago on her last visit about your plans for moving in together, Mateo didn't have a shift that day.

"We haven't" You replied "Actually, we decided to move into my place since it is closer to the hospital. At least until we find a house in our price range we like or save enough money for something better"

"You see, back when my Ernie and I bought our house there was barely anyone in the neighborhood so it was all real cheap" She proceeded to tell you all about the early stages of her marriage while you updated out her chart, thankful that it was a slow enough day that you could stay without Robby chewing you out for it like he so often did with Samira.

Later when you excused yourself, her daughter Rosie followed you out of the room with teary eyes "That was the most lucid she's been the whole week, you should know when we leave here she talks about you and Mateo constantly for at least a week, and sometimes she has these moments of clarity where she shares all these wonders about the two of you" Your expression softened, you'd come to really enjoy Mrs.Muller's company even though you always hoped she wouldn't end up here again soon "Thank you, for all the care, you truly are one of the best doctors I've ever met"

"You don't have to thank me" You hugged her "She really makes my job a lot easier even when she's being stubborn"

That afternoon, an hour before your shift ended, Elowen Muller coded. You'd been scared and had pulled all the stops to bring her back and just when you thought she was gone she'd responded, opened her eyes and with a raspy voice daid "Sorry everyone, I dozed off" You don't think you've ever felt the way you did that night and when you got home after your shift you cried to Mateo about how scary it had been.

After that scare you had approached Rosie and asked if you could visit her mom when she got out of the hospital and that's how you found yourself doing regular visits to her house, Elowen Muller became somewhat of your grandma as they adopted you into the family. When Mateo proposed and you kept it quiet from the hospital staff, because you rarely shared anything about your relationship with them and you weren't planning on saying anything until you sent out the save the dates, Mrs.Muller outed you.

It was during the med students first shift, Mateo had been tending to her alongside Cassie and Javadi and Mrs.Muller had been particularly quiet until the end when she asked Mateo to get closer and then whispered loudly to him "That one's making eyes at you, be careful" and pointed at Javadi who looked mortified.

Then before they left she'd called out "Tell your fiancee to come say hi before I leave!"

"She's really rooting for you guys huh?" Cassie smiled warmly at Mateo, she was probably the one person in the hospital who had seen the most about your relationship since you two often babysat for her.

"From day one" Mateo replied with a big smile.

"Sorry, he has a fiancee?" Javadi asked once he was gone.

"Girlfriend" Cassie replied giving her your name "But I wouldn't be surprised if they get engaged soon"

That same day, a little later, you popped into her room when you had some free time to say hello, Javadi was in there again, this time with Princess.

"I heard you were in here, couldn't let you leave without saying hi"

"Oh sweets! Come in, come in here and show me that ring again" Your eyes widened a little, there was no way she was outing you in front of Princess, surely the entire floor would know about it before shift was over now "Have you seen it yet? It's not as pretty as the one my Ernie got me, but it is gorgeous" She asked princess who shook her head "Well go on, show them"

You chuckled nervously "I don't wear it while working"

"You need to wear it on a chain, or pin it on your scrubs! I saw that in Greys"

"So, I guess congratulations are in order?" Princess said when you walked out of the room, you smiled and nodded sheepishly "You better let us know the date with plenty of time so we can find someone to fill in!" She pointed at you and walked away surely to let everyone know.

"Congrats" Javadi smiled awkwardly.

"Thank you" You replied.

Mateo found you approximately 5 minutes later "Mrs.Muller let it out huh?" You winced, he laughed "Hey the chain idea wasn't that bad, maybe I need to get you one of those next"

After you and Mateo got married Mrs.Muller's health had started declining and she had more bad days than good, still, even when she didn't fully remember you, that fondness she had for you hadn't disappeared and you saw it in the way she'd fight every doctor when they tried to check on her during a particular bad day except for you, or when she would only trust you to put her IV in.

One day when you arrived for your shift in the morning you found Mrs.Muller in a white coat walking bed to bed asking patients all sorts of questions while holding a notepad and a pen.

"Should we stop her?" You asked Dana who already looked busy even though the shift had just started.

She waved you off "She's just conducting a survey" And showed you a paper that was left in the counter of the nurses station earlier "About everyone's favorite soda and least favorite spot in town I think"

Her writings were barely words, mostly scribbles, but you could make out the words Sprite and Dr.Pepper every few lines alongside some misspelled street names. A couple minutes later you overlapped with a patient you needed to check on and Mrs.Muller's questionnaire towards them, the older woman nodding and scribbling into her notepad as you spoke to your patient who assured you they were fine with Mrs.Muller being there, thankfully. When you were done and moved to your next patient she followed, that repeated for about three patients more until she declared she was bored and stopped Mateo to take her to her room because she'd forgotten her way.

On her next visit to the hospital after a particularly nasty fall on a bad day she'd been snappy with everyone included you. And as you asked her daughter the regular questions you had to ask every time a new patient came in she jumped into the conversation "I'm pregnant" She announced.

She was 85 years old and very much not pregnant, but you still let her continue and asked in an amused tone "Yeah? Who's the father?"

She stared at you with a straight face and let out "Your husband" At the same time as Mateo was walking by making him poke his head in.

"Oh hi Mrs.Muller, how are you doing today?"

"Pregnant with your baby apparently" You huffed a chuckle watching Mateo look completely lost.

"At least the child will have good hair" Mrs.Muller grumbled before getting distracted with the beeping of the machine next to her.

"I'm so sorry" Rosie apologized, you waved her off with a smile.

When you found out you were pregnant was around the same time as Mrs.Muller had been put in an elderly care facility, Rosie not being able to car for her mom full time anymore as her dementia got worse and her siblings all living out of state, so your visits to her were fewer and most of her care was handled by the facility in their state of the art clinic so she no longer came into the ER as often.

When you were in your first two trimesters you visited her at the facility as much as you could, but as you reached your third trimester anything other than work seemed like too much of a hassle, so with a heavy heart Mateo and you had decided it was best if your trips to see Mrs.Muller stopped for the time being.

You were eight months pregnant on one of the last times you saw Mrs.Muller in the ER, your body was achy, your feet swollen and your mood completely soured from the overstimulation of carrying a baby at 8 months pregnant while working on a busy emergency department, but that day Mrs.Muller's visit had brightened your day with her not even realizing it.

You weren't in charge of her case, but you still stopped by to check on her even though it was one of those bad days where she didn't remember you at all. You'd been standing to the side sipping out of a smoothie reading her chart when she spoke "You should suck in your gut darling, you look fat"

Everyone in the room turned to you with horrified looks, recently you cried for less. In fact, just earlier today you'd cried because Whitaker had asked you to clarify what one of your notes said on a patient chart because your writing wasn't too neat and yesterday you'd teared up when Langdon complimented Mel on her stitches but didn't say anything about yours.

But instead of crying like everyone else had expected, you bursted out laughing, full laugh that had you clutching your belly and wiping good tears away "I needed that Elowen, I really did" Mrs.Muller had no idea what you meant or how you knew her first name but she ignored you as you walked out of the room wiping tears away.

"Hey, hey, what happened?" Mateo worryingly rushed to your side when he noticed the tears.

"Nothing" You gasped for air, laughing that much while 8 months pregnant? Not for the weak, but again, nothing really was these days "Good tears I swear, oh my god"

"Baby talk to me" Mateo still looked worried "What's going on?"

"She…" You pointed at the room and bursted out laughing again "Oh my god"

"Okay, breathe please"

You laughed some more and then finally took a deep breath and stopped enough to be able to form a full sentence "She told me I looked fat"

"Oh no" Mateo frowned.

"She's laughing about being called fat?" Santos asked confused from where she was standing charting behind you "She cried last week when I told her the part in her hair was not straight"

"You said that in a really mean tone"

"As opposed to that mean little old lady called you fat in a good tone?" She questioned.

"She's just confused" You waved her off.

By the time your baby girl made it to the world Mrs.Muller was in hospice care, Mateo and you contemplated it, your plan was to not take your baby out farther than your backyard until she was at least three months old, but based on what you'd heard from Rosie around the time your baby was a month old, Mrs.Muller might've not make it until then, so you decided you'd visit.

Rosie greeted you at the entrance, it was only her there that day with her mom, she didn't push to hold the baby or touch or anything, just watched with the same fondness you saw in her mom and congratulated you both. Mrs. Muller was having a good day she told you, that morning when she woke up she'd been told about your visit with your little one and she'd been excitedly waiting for you to arrive.

When she saw you walk through the door, Mateo holding the carrier and you tired but glowing in front she beamed "Oh my darlings" She clasped her hands "Look at you!"

"Hi Mrs.Muller" You smiled with teary eyes, your hormones were still all over the place and seeing her look so fragile in that bed killed you.

"Come here" She motioned, you did "You look amazing, how are you doing?"

"Tired" You admitted "But we wanted to come introduce someone to you"

Mateo took a step closer and lifted the carrier up for you to pull the baby out "Hi Mrs.Muller"

"Hi my love" She smiled at him then saw the tiny baby in your arms "Oh my goodness"

"Would you like to hold her?" She nodded and you adjusted her in her arms safely keeping a hand close so you could help in case of an emergency.

"Look at you" Mrs.Muller cooed "You're so beautiful, you look just like your daddy"

Mateo smiled proudly, it was true, that weird statistic about girls always looking like their dad for some weird reason had been true in your case "Would you like to know her name?" He asked.

Mrs.Muller nodded and you two looked at each other before you softly said "Her name is Elowen Diaz"

Mrs.Muller looks up at you both with teary eyes and you nod "She wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you" Mateo told her "I had been eyeing the pretty doctor for days thinking I had no chance with her until you started playing matchmaker and I decided to risk it"

"You've been for every stage of our relationship it only seemed right for our girl to be named after you" You added.

"Oh take her before I drop her" You could see her arms shaking from emotion and Mateo, the protective dad he had become even before she was out in the world, didn't think twice before picking her up and nestling her in his arms, one technically because they were so big and she was so small but the other one was there too for extra security "You two are going to be the most wonderful parents to that little girl, she's so luck to have you"

"And we're lucky to have you" You said, she motioned for you to get closer so she could hug you.

When you were in her arms she whispered "I'm so proud of you two"

She passed away a week later, it happened in her sleep and she hadn't been in any pain. For the funeral you got Cassie to babysit as a repayment for all the times you and Mateo did for her and went to celebrate the life of a wonderful woman and say goodbye.

You heard stories from a lot of different people, Elowen Muller had been an exceptional woman who had impacted the life of everyone she'd connected with. When she was younger she'd been a special ed teacher, after she retired from teaching she decided to pursue her childhood dream of working in a zoo, except she didn't just go and volunteer at one, she found an underfunded rescue center and started campaigning for them, she volunteered all her free time to animal conservation and spent the rest of it alongside her family.

She had 3 kids, 2 daughters and a son, and 7 grandkids, all grown up with their own lives yet they still found time to visit her as much as possible. When the service ended you met up with Rosie and her siblings who had also adopted you into their family after hearing so much of you from their mother.

"Thank you for coming" Rosie smiled "I'm sure she's real happy you made it today"

"We wouldn't have missed it" Mateo replied for the both of you since he knew you were too emotional to speak, your whole body weight was resting on him as he held you by his side "We're going to miss her"

"Yeah" Rosie pulled an envelop out of her purse "She left this for you"

Back home, after saying goodbye to Cassie and making sure that Elowen was safely asleep in her bassinet, you took the baby monitor and sat outside with the envelope in your hands.

"I don't know if I'm ready for this" You admitted.

"You don't have to open it right now" Mateo kissed the top of your head.

You took a deep breath "No, I think we should" In the letter you could see a neat handwriting, probably Rosie's

My Dears,

If you're reading this letter, that means I'm gone.

And now that I've gotten the dramatic movie line out of the way let's do this.

I want to start by thanking you for taking care not only of me, but my family as well. All those hospital visits where you had to tend to me, you were also helping my family, those extra blankets and pillows never went unnoticed. Neither did the words of encouragement and all the support you had for my children and I through all the hard times.

I know I wasn't all there all the time, as much as I would've liked it, my sickness made it impossible. However, the times I was there, I got to see your beautiful love flourish. I'm glad you took the risk and decided to try it out, it takes one look at you both to realize how perfect you are for each other.

It was the highlight of my last years to see you two fall in love, from those 'secret' looks you threw each other's way (yes, I saw them, I think everybody did, you're not good at hiding) to seeing you hold hands for a second in the hallway while passing through on your way to another patient all the way to your wedding and (hopefully I'll still be there to see it) the birth of your baby.

To the best nurse ever, never lose that beautiful gentleness you have for others, it is one of your biggest strenghts, but don't let anyone use it as a weakness. Take care of our girl and the little one on the way as well like it is your full time job. (I'm sure you already do but it doesn't hurt to remind you)

To my favorite doctor, never lose sight of who you are, keep working hard but don't let your ambition consume you, take the time to stop and look around. Let our nurse take care of you and never stop loving him with as much passion as you do now, savor every moment with your little one, they grow up too fast.

I'm so proud of the people you've grown to be, you will be the best parents ever. Never lose sight of what is the most important thing in your life, each other, your family. I know you don't owe me anything, but I would really love it if you mentioned me once or twice to your girl, let her know a crazy old woman was the one who pushed her parents to get together maybe.

Don't miss me too much, know I'm having the time of my life with my Ernie and telling him all about what he missed with our family, including you three. It became a tradition after my first grandchild that every one of them got a knitted blanket, I obviously couldn't make one for your baby but I enlisted the help of Rosie with it and by the time you read this she should have it ready along with a few other things I would like you to have, call her, she'll have it all for you.(Rosie here: yes I will, call me)

It is a pity that we didn't have more time together, but I appreciate the universe for putting you in my way, until we see each other again.

With love,

Elowen Muller.

0. Begin again

Breakups are hard, you've been through your fair share of them, all the way back to middle school when you dated Tommy B for four whole days, although you're not sure the weekend when you didn't talk to each other counted, all the way to just a few months ago when you had the worst breakup you could ever imagine.

You've never hated your status more than you have in the last three months. It seems like everything is trying to remind you that the life you had planned for yourself will never come true, social media is filled with headlines about your breakup, talk shows are questioning what happened, even the newspapers had an article about how you'd gone from talking about getting married to getting dumped, which technically is not true.

You didn't get dump, you broke up with him after you caught him cheating for the second time. The first time it happened you'd heard from a friend, one of his friends' girlfriend technically, she'd warned you about one girl who ran in your circle who she'd heard talking about sleeping with your boyfriend. When you confronted him he admitted to it and said it had been a lapse in judgement, a one time thing that he felt extremely guilty about. A week later you were back together. This time around you'd found him in bed with her when coming back to your shared home earlier than planned and you couldn't find it in yourself to forgive him and go through it again.

So you packed a bag, flew to New York City where you had an apartment and left both him and the dreams of a life you no longer recognized behind. Then you spent the next three months hiding away from everyone, Alyssa, your assistant and one of your best friends, had picked up the rest of your stuff from your shared apartment in LA and brought it back to you.

You realized how deep you were and how much you needed to get back to reality one night after setting the table for dinner on autopilot and putting out two placement mats and two sets of cluttery as if you were still with him and expecting him for dinner and then burned the placemat over your kitchen sink in a blur of rage.

Two weeks later Alyssa couldn't take seeing you like that anymore. Shejust walked into your apartment one day and announced she was setting you up with one of her best friends' brother, a hockey player named Dean who she swore was a real good guy and also, in her own words, really fucking hot. You of course objected against the date immediately, you were still not over your breakup and in fact, a blurry picture of your ex and his, apparently, new girlfriend AKA the girl he cheated on you with had left you crying again just yesterday.

But, if there's one thing about Alyssa, it is her perseverance, it was partially the reason you'd hired her in the first place. Alyssa was the kind of person who could get a yes out of the most difficult asks, you'd seen it over and over again from getting you booking some of your dream venues, to a table at an extremely popular new restaurant with a six month waiting list for the next day. So she didn't relent, she nagged you until finally you accepted.

"One date, and I am not promising you anything will come out of it" You'd said, she'd nodded with a big wide smile and mumbled something about you eating your words before texting her best friend and letting her know the date was on.

The date happened next Wednesday, because hockey players have weird schedules, in a hidden coffee shop in the West Village. You showed up ten minutes earlier than your agreed time expecting him to show up late, like your ex boyfriend always did, which would give you time to pick a spot and calm your nerves. He was already there when you walked through the door looking just like he had in the pictures Alyssa had shown you.

He got up to greet you as soon as he noticed you, your name coming out in a nice smooth voice accompanied by a warm smile "Hi, I'm Dean, it's nice to meet you"

"Nice to meet you Dean" Your voice came out shaky but if he noticed he didn't say anything, just pulled your chair out inviting you to sit.

"Would you like to order first? I'm not sure what you like but they seem to have some good pastries that my trainers would probably disapprove of" You took the small menu from the middle of the table as he spoke and felt thankful he didn't seem to be shy when making conversation.

"These do sound good" You agree scanning the names on the menu.

You ordered and started talking, he led the conversation for most. ofit, not because he was the kind of guy who just liked to hear his own voice but because he noticed it was what you needed, still, he made sure to always ask about you about whatever topic you found yourself in.

"You know" He took a sip of his cappucino "When Summer, my sister, first told me about this date I said no"

You chuckled into your own cup "I also told Alyssa no"

"But they are as stubborn as the other" He nodded "She enlisted Alyssa's help and they had me on a call for about an hour until I relented"

"You broke too easily" You said "It took Alyssa like three whole days"

"You're stronger than me" He joked "But to be fair, I've been resisting against them since we were kids"

"The first time Alyssa convinced me to do something it was camping" You shared, he raised an eyebrow and leant in ready to hear the story "I love the outdoors, but only when I get to go inside at bedtime. She insisted it would be fun, it was back when she'd just started working with me, the first year probably, and she made this whole plan, invited some other friends, told me she had it all figured it out and I just needed to show up"

"Oh no" He had a playful glint in his eye like he knew whatever you were about to say next would be good.

"She got us a child sized tent, for both of us" He cackled "We fit, made it work, but that's when I discovered Alyssa loves to cuddle" You looked at him, waited for the interruption, for the moment he'd hijack the story and turned it to one of his that diminished yours, but it never came, he just smiled and waited for you to continue "I had to pee at some point, there were porta potties thankfully, but then when I finally made it out of the tent I saw something moving where we'd stored our food and of course I was convinced it just had to be a bear"

"Naturally" He nodded, his body was still leaning towards you as he showed you you had his undivided attention.

"So I went back in and woke Alyssa up, we armed ourselves with the only thing we could think of, our flashlights" He nodded again, you chuckled "It was pocket flashlights, the kind that are smaller than your hand" He let out a laugh "Thankfully it was just one of our friends who'd gotten hungry and was looking for a midnight snack, safe to say I never went back camping with her"

"Hey, I don't know about you, but I've seen Alyssa fight and I think you two had a chance with your pocket flashlights" He joked.

You spent another hour talking and getting to know each other, the date went so good you forgot about the hearbreak and your ex for the first time in three months, when your Uber arrived, a street over because of construction, he walked you to it and when you passed a poster that was up in a store with your ex boyfriend's face in it you almost stopped and said something about it. Almost, Dean beat you to it, distracted with another store that had Christmas decorations, Christmas was still a few months away, he launched into a story about the movies his family watched every single year.

When you finally stopped in front of your Uber your smile was an easy one, the kind that hadn't shown up in a while "Thank you for today, it was fun"

He smiled too, full dimples showing "Thank you, this was great, I'm glad I'm weak against Summer and Alyssa"

"I'm glad too" And with one last hug you said goodbye and hopped into the car.

Dean had already pulled his phone out and opened up the groupchat with the two matchmakers, he sent two words to it, blocked it and walked away with a big smile feeling like this was just the beginning of something good.

'you win'

1. Peace

Three months of quiet down time with your boyfriend felt better than years in therapy, but that wasn't something you planned on sharing with your therapist. You and Dean had just passed your three month anniversary and your time together had been nothing short of bliss, you had both decided to keep everything as provate as possible with it being new and the media that was still talking about your breakup, so most of the time spent together was in your apartments, Dean's mainly since you thought it had better security and less chances of the media catching you, but also because of his practice and game schedule.

Privacy was great, you loved being able to have something that was just yours without anyone to criticize it and pull it apart, but it also meant that you had't been to any of his games or met any of his teammates or friends.

"It's just not fair" You complained to Alyssa through the phone, Dean, who had gone to get dinner for the two of you to share before he left on a roadie, walked in "Dean just got here, I'll call you later"

"You ok?" He asked dropping the food on the table and pulling you up into a hug that you melted into.

"Just another article about how I'm a heart breaker because Theo's been underperforming" You mention the article you saw earlier where sports analysts, who were supposed to be professionals, blamed you for your ex-boyfriend's team losing streak "And also Gia's been liking and making shady posts"

"Are you planning on speaking out?" He asked, you'd thought about it and gone through the pros and cons with Alyssa before ultimately deciding it would probably go worse for you if you did say something, so you shake your head no and he nods understandingly "I got us subs from that place you like"

"Oh thank god" You mumble against his chest where your head's been resting "I'm starving"

"So…" He said mid bite "My family's coming over on Friday" You'd met Summer before, but his parents you'd only said hello to once or twice when he's been in a call with and you hadn't met his brother yet either "I mean, my parents are going to be here for the weekend and Nick's taking the weekend off so Summer's flying in too"

You nod already making plans to pass the time off while they are around "Okay, I'll probably book some time in the studio then, finally try and get something out"

He frowns, confused "What? No, I… I want you here, to meet them"

"Oh" You let out, you hadn't expected that, usually when Theo's family was around you'd make yourself scarce to let them have their family time so this was new territory for you.

"I mean, only if you are comfortable with it"

"Of course but… I don't want to intrude in your family time, I know it's not often you all have time off like this" You told him.

His expression softened "Honey, you wouldn't be intruding" He captured your hand into his "They have actually been wanting to meet you for a bit, Summer wouldn't shut up about how he'd find me my perfect girl and- what?" He asked when he noticed the look you were giving him.

"Your perfect girl?" You asked with. araised eyebrow and a tiny smile threatening to break through.

"Well, yeah" He scratchd the back of his neck "She's not wrong, and well everyone's excited to meet you and hang out with you"

"Okay" You nodded

"Okay"

He left for his roadie the next day after making plans for you to meet him at his apartment on Saturday for brunch. So naturally, Friday night you ended up pacing your apartment with a glass of red wine and Alyssa lounging on your couch with an amused smirk "What if they see me and think I'm not pretty enough for him? And then I speak and they hate my voice? And if they don't like what I bring? Oh my God are the pastries enough? should I have bought more? What if they are allergic? What if they think I'm trying to kill them?"

Your rant is enough for your best friend as she bursted out laughing and you finally stopped "You're being stupid" You scoffed "No, seriously. I've known the Di Laurentis for most of my life, trust me they are not as shallow as everyone makes them seem, they are probably some of the nicest people ever and Summer said her mom was already planning her christmas gift list for you, apparently she's been researching what you like"

"She researched me?" Your face blanched at the thought knowing that, especially recently, your reputation hasn't been the best so God knows what she found.

"Not you" Alyssa realized your panic "Your likes, she always does this thing where she goes all out for christmas, and I mean at least five or more full presents plus a stocking of 'mini' gifts that can range anywhere from a piece of candy to a cartier ring"

"That actually doesn't make me feel better, it just makes the pastries seem like not enough" You dropped into the couch in dramatics that would've sent your wine flying if your cup hadn't been empty already.

"Oh my god" She groaned "Stop overthinking it babe, you'll be fine"

"Have you ever seen them with one of Dean's exes?" You asked, Alyssa laughed.

"There was exactly two girlfriends before you" Your ears perked at the comment "One in high school who we don't talk about and one in college who's still in the friend group, Allie Hayes, you know? The broadway actress?" You nodded, you'd seen her in one of her plays last year and she'd been brilliant "She's great, and her and Dean were good but ultimately decided they were better as friends, the Di Laurentis liked her" She shrugged.

"Oh my god I hadn't even thought about ex girlfriends" You groaned and threw your head back "I can't compete with her, she's perfect"

"There is no competition" Alyssa pointed out "Allie's just a friend. Anyways, the point is, the Di Laurentis trust their kids and their judgement, so if Dean's crazy about you then of course they'll like you too"

Dean offered to pick you up from your apartent on Saturday, you obviously denied saying it was silly for him to drive to your apartment just to drive back to his, so instead you took an Uber there. The doorman already knew you and just nodded with a smile when you walked in, the usual elevator ride that you'd done countless times felt way too long this time around, you took one last nervous look at your reflection in the mirror in the elevator, your outfit casual enough to not look like you're trying too much but something that you had crafted carefully with Alyssa the night before. You carried a tote bag full of baked goods that you'd picked up from that one coffee shop you had your first date with Dean months ago, a wine bottle, charcuterie board items and your essentials, your other hand held a bouquet of flowers, lilies, since Dean said that was his mom's favorite.

You took one last big breath and stepped out, the walk between the elevator and the apartment door not enough to help your nerves. You usually just walked in knowing that Dean rarely locked his door anyways,a habit you'd tried to break him out of with no results, but this time you knocked.

"Why are you knocking?" He asked confused.

"Because that's what a regular person would do?" You replied as if it was obvious, because it was.

"But you're not a regular person" He declared.

"Are you calling me weird?" You argued.

"No! I'm just saying, you never knock and that's perfectly fine by me because you're my girlfriend and I want my place to also feel yours but-" He got cut off by a familiar voice.

"Stop hogging her Dicky, we wanna see her too" Summer appeared behind him, sent you a wink and bumped her brother out of the way "Please, ignore this brute I call my brother and come in"

"I was literally telling her to come in" Dean huffed.

"Oh you're here!" His mom exclaimed as soon as she saw you, she placed the bowl she'd been holdng down on the table and rushed to you "Dean, help the poor girl out"

He raised an eyebrow at you and took your tote bag letting you keep the bouquet "Hi, it's so nice to meet you, these are for you" You handed the lilies to her.

"Oh these are wonderful! Thank you dear, I'm so happy you could join us today you have no idea how much we've been pestering Dean about meeting you but you know our schedules are impossible right now" She pulled you into a side hug and guided you to the kitchen with her keeping her arm around your shoulders.

"She's stolen your girlfriend" Summer told Dean.

"Honey" Dean's dad gave you both a smile "Don't hog the girl, we want to meet her too"

His mom swatted him away but let go of you to let you greet him and his other son officially "Nice to meet you" You shook his hand.

"You too" He smiled.

"Good to finally meet you" Nick who was Dean's older, more serious version of a man shook your hand too "Sorry we haven't been introduced before, work's been crazy lately"

"And that's where the work talk is ending" Summer jumped in winking at you "We don't want to bore her before we get to dessert"

You set up the charcuterie board you'd brough over alongside Dean's mom as she finished prepping brunch, you learned that although her job had always been demanding, she always enjoyed cooking to destress and even though most of the time they had cooks in their staff she liked cooking for her family whenever she had the chance.

Brunch went by nicely, your nerves dissolving before the table had even been set and by the time you had finished the lunch part and moved to the pastries you'd brought over you'd already heard every childhood story the Di Laurentis parents could remember about their kids. You and Dean had ended up doing the dishes after everyone was done after a small fight with the whole family who tried to stop you "They really like you" He admitted while washing a plate "Dad told me I better not mess this up while you were fighting mom about doing the dishes"

Your expression melted and your heart fluttered "I really like them too, I was real nervous they'd hate me"

"Baby I'm not sure anyone could ever hate you"

You chuckled "So you haven't checked twitter recently then?"

He moved closer to you "They don't know you" His voice was even softer than what it usually was when he talked to you, and Dean knew that should've frightened him, how you melt him completely, but it doesn't, it feels right "They just know a version of you they created. If they truly knew you, if they saw the you I get, they'd love you"

You ended the night with a few rounds of Mario Kart against the Di Laurentis siblings, Summer and you absolutely demolishing the brothers while their parents watched fondly from the side. When you left it was with a promise to get together again before they left and your number in both Dean's mom and Summer's phone, the older woman already making plans for the upcoming holidays.

The next morning you had a meeting that left you completely drained. It was with your pr and media team to decide how you wanted to proceed with the headlines about the breakup that still circulated but in the end it really was just a lot of looking at articles that trash talked you. One in particular stuck in your head, the one that had called you 'the nightmare-in-law', there were a few reasons why it bothered you so much but the main one had been the 'in-law' title.

Theo and you had spent many nights talking about your future, he'd always said he'd propose when you least expected it, you two talked about your dream wedding and on those ocassions that you did hang out with his family, they too joked about having you join the family officially.

Then there had also been the nightmare part of the headline. You'd never been extremely close to his family, they didn't live locally and your schedules didn't always coincide, but when they did you'd always had a good relationship, you'd been at his brother's wedding and his sister's graduation yet now there were comments about you being difficult to get along with from them?

"You can't spiral like this" Alyssa spoke out pulling you out of your thoughts, you'd been in the back of a car on your way back to your apartment and you hadn't spoken more than two words the whole ride "Not about this, you know better than to pay this much attention to people who don't know you and whose whole job is to shit talk people they don't know"

"They had an inside source" You mumbled "And we all know what that means"

"That they know how to sell?" She asks "Babe half the time their inside sources are interns who are specifically tasked with coming up with the most outrageous shit they can"

You looked at her "What if this is an actual inside source? What if his family truly hated me the whole time?"

"Who cares?" She let out bluntly "You are not with him anymore, if his family actually is that two faced then good ridance, you're never dealing with them ever again"

"They hated me, were together for four years and I was blind the whole time" You knew you were spiraling but you couldn't stop.

"Why are you obsessing over this right now?" Alyssa questioned "Normally you don't care to read those articles, you've been in the industry long enough to know not to pay attention to the noise, so why this reaction now?"

You sighed, you knew exactly why "Because… what if Dean's family read them and realize I'm not a good person? What if Dean reads it and realizes he deserves someone better?" You felt the familiar sting of tears in your eyes "I'm in trouble Lyss, I really really like him, I think I might be falling for him, I want this… no, I need this to work out because I can't go through that kind of heartbreak again and I'm not sure if something went wrong with Dean I could pull myself out of it that easily"

Alyssa's face read full understanding "Oh babe" She scooted over and hugged you, you finally let the tears fall.

"I don't want to lose him Lyss, especially not because of this" You sobbed into her shoulder.

"I think you should tell him how you're feeling about all this" She said, you shook your head "Babe, no matter how much I, or anyone, reassures you that this will not break your relationship, it will never mean anything unless it comes from him"

"We haven't even been together for that long, I don't want him to think I'm crazy" You sniffled "Which I clearly am because I mean, look at me, I'm a mess"

"You're not crazy" She reassured "You're human, you feel things, you go through emotions, he'll understand that and I'm sure he'd like to be able to be there for you"

You let that conversation with Alyssa and your thoughts simmer for a few weeks, the headlines too loud when you had a moment to think. You tried to ignore it as best as you could, to convince yourself that you could deal with it on your own, until you couldn't anymore. Alyssa's voice telling you to talk to him finally broke through.

It happened at night as you laid on his chest while he drew mindeless shapes on your bare back "Dean?" He hummed, he'd clearly already been drifting off but woke up when he felt you sit up.

"What is it honey?" Just like that he'd woken up again, concern etched into his face.

"I've been meaning to talk to you about this for a bit but I didn't know how to approach it" You let out quietly.

Dean being Dean, can't help but to jokingly interrupt you "Oh shit, is it my hands? I swear I do wash them but the smell of the gloves linger and I can't really do anything about it"

Some of your nerves dissipated and you felt thankful for the absolute idiot your boyfriend was and the way he always knew how to calm you down "It's not your hands, you know I like your hands"

He nodded suggestlibly "Oh yeah, I know"

You smiled softly "It'a about the articles" You admitted and he shifted to sit up too "A couple weeks ago there was this one that talked about an inside souce who claimed Theo's family hated me through all the relationship. They called me the 'nightmare-in-law" His jaw clenched at the title "And I guess I just got to thinking and… I really, really like you, like, a lot" His jaw unclenched, a soft smile replaced the scowl "But those articles, they'll never stop coming and as much shit as they make up, sometimes there will be some truth to them and maybe sometimes it will be difficult to pick up what's real and what's not" You couldn't look at him anymore, instead you looked down at a loose thread in the blanket as you played with it out of nerves "Sometimes I can't make out the truth from the lies, it's a lot, and sometimes I feel like maybe they are right when they say I'm not a good person. And you already live such a hectic life and I can't imagine you wanting to come home to more shit, you probably want to come home to peace but my life is pretty hectic too, you haven't even seen the half of it because I haven't given people any sightings to pull apart and overanalyze but I will have to go out there to the real world again soon and… I guess what I'm trying to get at is I don't know if I will ever be able to give you that peace you deserve"

You finished your rant with your gaze locked on the loose thread you played with, you didn't want to see his face when he processed your words and decided you were right, when that recognition that he didn't want to live his life like this hit but that never came.

"Honey" He called out, and when you didn't look up he softly grabbed a hold of your chin and turned you to face him while calling your name "I'm going to talk now and you're going to listen to every word I say without interrupting okay?" You nodded "You are all that I want. I don't care about any articles and their headlines, I don't care about all the outside noise from people who didn't know how to appreciate you. I want you and our quiet nights , I want the loud karaoke sessions, the crying over movies that aren't even that sad, the videos of you celebrating my goals that will one day turn into you celebraring at the arena, I want the waking up in the middle of the night scared that there are creepy ghosts in here only to find you playing a melody on the piano instead because a chord progression was revealed to you in your dreams" You let out a watery chuckle at that "I want all of that and more because I love you and as long as you are here then I am in peace. You are my peace honey"

"I was trying really hard not to cry" You wiped your face "And you just had to go and ruin that for me" He chuckled "I love you too" His smile went impossibly wider and he pulled you into a kiss.

"Say it again" He mumbled into your lips.

"I love you Dean Di Laurentis" You kissed him again "And I'm sorry for making you think there's ghosts haunting you, I promise to stop playing the piano at 3 AM"

"Deal" He nodded "Any other time is okay, 2 AM? good, 4Am? Great, done, but 3 AM is spooky hour honey, you gotta keep all your limbs under the blanket so the ghosts don't get you"

You jus tlaughed and shook your head before you climbed on top of him and kissed him again, he immediately followed deepening the kiss.

2. But Daddy I Love Him

You'd been making dinner at Dean's apartment when your mom's call came through "Hi mom"

"Hi sweetheart, how are ya?" She asked in that warm mom voice she always got when she went more than a few days without talking to you.

"I'm good" You replied "What about you and dad?"

"We're good, it's getting real busy around here, your dad's been cooped up in his office all day" You put your phone on speaker and continued preparing your food "What about you? Anything new or exciting? Any new music coming out soon?"

"Nothing yet, I've been writing and had a few sessions at the studio but nothing much" You considered telling her about Dean but ultimately decided that you weren't ready for the innevitable interrogation that would come from both her and your dad if you did. You knew it wouldn't come from a bad place but you still didn't want to deal with that yet.

"Oh, well, everything on its own time" Your parents have always been your biggest supporters in everything in your life, your music included. "I was over at Aunt Lisa's today and she wanted to know if you were making it to thanksgiving, I said most likely but that I'd ask you and confirm"

There were two big events that happened in your family that were a non negotiable family reunion, a summertime reunion at your grandparents' beach house and thanksgiving at whoever's house was drafted that year. The events usually ended up becoming a whole weekend thing with at least 30 people showing up to them.

"Uh" A knock on the door distracted you so you took your phone off of speaker and went to open it "Give me a sec, someone's at the door" Dean had previously asked you to get some package he was waiting to get delivered so you assumed that was what it was.

Boy had you been wrong because when you opened the door instead of a mailman or the building courier, because Dean's apartment was fancy like that and their mail often got delivered by the building's mail office, but instead two men you recognized from Dean's pictures and college stories stood in front of you.

"You're not Dean" Logan pointed at you then turned to Garrett "But this is still Dean's apartment right? He didn't move and forget to tell us?"

"He didn't mention it but maybe he did?" Garret told his friend.

You chuckled "You're at the right place, Dean's out but should be back soon"

Your mom's voice came through your phone reminding you she was still there "Dean? Who's Dean? Why are you at his apartment and where is he?"

"Mom I'll call you later okay?" You winced a bit at the slip up but hung up and turned back to the men "Do you want to wait for him inside? I was just finishing dinner" You offered.

"Fuck yeah, I'm starving" Logan squeezed past you into the apartment, Garret behind him mumbling an apology "So what are we earing?"

"I was making burrito bowls" You shrugged and followed them to the kitchen.

"That sounds amazing right now" He sat on a stool while you finished the last details "So, how did you find yourself cooking dinner for Dean? Are you his new chef?"

Garret shook his head in disappointment "Dude there's no way you don't recognize her" When Logan gave him a weirded out look he said your name, Logan still didn't recognized you "Jesus dude, you need culture in you, she's like a pop princess"

"Eh, I wouldn't go that far" You joked "I loved Hannah's new song"

"You know Hannah?" Logan asked.

"Not personally, but I've heard her stuff, she's really good"

"She's gonna freak out when I tell her you said that" Garrett pointed at you "She's a big fan"

"Well I'm a fan of hers"

"So where is Dean anyways?" Logan changed the subject "Isn't practice done by now?"

"He had some errands to run" You plated up the food and passed them to each of them "Should be back soon, did you guys need something?"

"We're here for a game, decided to stop by and say hi to our buddy" Garrett explained, you nodded

"Baby I'm home!" You heard Dean walk through the door.

"In the kitchen!" You yelled back "Does he know you're around?" They shook their heads no.

"Hey did my package sho-" He stopped himself when he noticed his friends sitting at the counter "What are you guys doing here?" He moved to greet them, you smiled at the sight.

"We're playing the Islanders" Logan shrugged "Had to come say hi"

"And instead of finding you, pop princess opened the door for us and offered us dinner" Garrett added making you laugh "Logan thought she was your new chef"

"Hey, if the singing thing doesn't work out you could switch careers" The first man pointed at you with seriousness.

"I'll keep it in mind" You nodded

"I'm sorry about them" The blonde turned to you pulling you for a quick kiss.

"Eh, they're okay" You joked.

"He's not wrong though , this smells heavenly baby"

You sighed at yet another buzz of your phone, your mom had been asking if you were going home for thanksgiving, you were, but you hadn't been able to reply yet because you knew as soon as she had you she would interrogate you nonstop about Dean and that was not something you were particularly excited about.

You decided though, that you had to face her sooner rather than later and it was better to just bit the bullet and FaceTime her already, the phone couldn't have rang more than twice when before she'd answered the call "Oh baby! So glad you called, hold on let me just-" She grunted, the screen went dark as she moved around "Okay sorry, I was in the middle of doing laundry"

"All good, just calling to confirm I am coming in for thanksgiving" You said.

"Wonderful, I'll let Aunt Lisa know, do we just put you down for one? Or maybe you're bringing a plus one?" You gave her a look, of course she was going to try and find out one way or another.

"Mom" You warned.

"What? I'm just saying, Alyssa is more than welcomed to come around, or anyone else for that matter"

"No Alyssa, just me" You answered knowing damn well she was fishing.

"Honey, have you seen my keys? I think I left my charger in my car" Dean, who as far as you knew had been napping on your couch, walked into your bedroom.

"Yeah, you dropped them off on the kitchen counter, I put them by the door I think, check the pink bowl" He nodded and thanked you before he walked out.

Your mom had that expectant face, the one she often gave you when you were a teenager and she'd caught you lying about something "You spilling yet?"

"There's nothing to spill" You groaned.

"There's a man calling you honey and asking you where he left his keys in your apartment, that doesn't sound like nothing to me" She raised an eyebrow.

You sighed "That was Dean… my boyfriend"

"Your boyfriend?" She looked behind the phone and you knew your dad had been listening too.

"Yes, my boyfriend" Then you added "Hi dad"

"Hi doll" Your dad popped into frame.

"So, how long has this boyfriend been around?" Your mom asked.

"Not that long, about five months" She gasped "Mom…"

"Five months is long, you introduced us to Theo way earlier than that" The name of your ex irritated you.

"And what good did it do huh?" You were aware your tone had gone snappy, but the mention of Theo had a way of souring your mood nowadays.

"We want to meet him" Your dad said, you scoffed "Is that really such a crazy ask?"

Your mom nodded alongisde him "Bring him over for thanksgiving"

"Can't, he's working" You replied.

"Well can't he ask for the day off? It's Thanksgiving for God's sake"

"He has a game the day after" You said "He can't travel"

"A game?" You saw your dad's face contort as he pieced the conversation together.

"Hockey" You nodded.

"Another athlete?" Your mom looked disappointed, after the breakup one of your mom's biggest contention points against Theo had been that he was an athlete and those guys barely ever took anything other than their sport seriously.

"Oh my God" You groaned "I'm not dealing with this, I'll see you on thanksgiving" You hung up and when you looked up Dean was looking at you like he had caught part if not most of the conversation.

"Honey" He took three long steps and dropped on the bed next to you to pull you in a hug "I'm sorry"

"For what?" You asked into his chest.

"For being something that comes between you and your parents" He mummbled into your hair where he placed a kiss.

"It's not on you" You told him "They're just overreacting"

"They are worried about you"

"Well, I don't need their worry, not when it comes to you" He nodded understanding that you were done with the conversation "We're playing Boston right before Thanksgiving, like the day before, I know you're visiting family, but the Briar guys and I were planning on having a friendsgiving dinner and I was wondering if you wanted to come with. I mean, if you haven't bought your ticket yet maybe you could fly from there?"

"Mmm maybe" You said "I'll ask Alyssa to see what she can do, she's kinda in charge of my traveling schedule"

"Okay" He nodded "It's gonna be a real private thing, just my college crew, the two goofs you already met and their girls plus Tuck and his girl and daughter"

"That sounds nice, I'd like to meet your friends"

Alyssa probably deserved a raise from how often she ended up with your doomspiraling, but she'd always said that was the friend part of your relationship instead of her being you assistant, so the morning before thanksgiving you found yourself on the phone with her while you dug through your entire closet as you looked for an outfit to wear to the dinner with Dean's friends', your suitcase for your trip home had already been packed and was waiting by the door.

"You've passed on like 5 different perfecly good sweaters" She rolled her eyes, you'd been on a call for almost two hours and your closet had been turned around "Wear the blue one with those jeans that make your ass look good"

"Is that good enough though?" You asked, she rolled her eyes again, you worried they'd stay stuck like that.

"Yes" She deadpanned "He said it was just a casual dinner"

"With his best friends from college, including two of the best young hockey players, a grammy nominated singer, and possibly his really cool broadway star of an ex" You listed out.

"Do you forget who you are?" Alyssa asked "Babe, the whole world knows your name, Taylor Swift said your last album had been on repeat for two weeks, Niall Horan did a cover of your song, Hozier-"

"And what if they think I'm lame? Like they meet me and realize I'm nothing like they expected? Or worse, I'm exactly like they imagined and they hate it? Hate me?"

"You have a flight to catch in two hours, snap out of it, pick out a sweater out of that pile, put on some jeans and get your ass to the airport or you'll miss your flight" She hung up after she finished talking because she knew if she stayed on call you'd keep spiraling and eventually miss your flight and just not make it to the dinner.

A couple hours later you arrived at the address Dean had given you, a nice brownstone loomed over as you texted Dean to let him know you were there, you'd landed thirty minutes ago and Dean's game had ended about ah hour ago but you knew he'd arrived at his friends' a few minutes ago.

"Honey! I'm so glad you've made it!" He opened the door with a big smile and an ease that you had only seen him have in the private of your apartments "Come in come in, let me take that"

"Hi baby" he pulled you into a kiss once you were inside.

"Hey pop princess! You're here!" Logan who had apparently kept the nickname Garrett had called you before in mind exclaimed from the end of the short hallway "Dean don't hog her bring her in"

Dean gave you a look and led you deeper, your luggage stayed by the door "You've met the two idiots" He introduced once you walked in, Garrett and Logan both raised their beers "These are Hannah, Gracie, Sabrina and Tucker"

"Welcome to our home, we're glad you could make it" Tucker gave you a smile, he'd been holding an adorable little girl in his arms.

"Thank you for inviting me" You smiled at the whole group.

"We're big fans" Hannah mentioned, you thanked her.

Dean led you to a seat on the couch with the group and the conversation continued, it flowed easily between the friends, retells of stories from their college days and the past few years since they graduated, you stayed quiet for the most part not knowing how to integrate yourself into the conversation which left you to just smile at the foreign memories.

"I should check on the turkey" Tucker grunted dropping his daughter, Jamie you'd learned, down on the seat he'd just left, the guys followed behind, Dean placed a kiss to your forehead and went with them.

"Did Allie have a show tonight?" Sabrina asked Hannah who nodded into her glass of wine.

"Yeah, she would've been able to make it if we kept the plan to tomorrow but couldn't get out of it tonight" The brunette replied and you felt the room shift, had they changed their plans so you could make it? Were they annoyed at you making them change their plans even though you had no idea about it?

"Tuck was running around all morning like a headless chicken trying to get things to be perfect" Sabrina added "Luckily the amount of people didn't change or he would've gone down a spiral"

"Right, the great junior year thanksgiving" Hannah nodded "None of us were there and none of us will ever forget about it"

They didn't offer any more information about it, they just laughed and moved on to another topic. Grace noticed Sabrina and Hannah had found themselves in a deep conversation and decided to approach you "Hey" She smiled, real and soft.

"Hi" You smiled back.

"I'm sorry if we seem clicky, it's not you, we've just… I mean, it's just been us for so long sometimes we forget when someone new joins us" She explained.

"I get that" You nodded "I apparently also changed your plans suddenly so I'm sorry about that, I had no idea"

She waved you off "Dean was really excited about you making it, we were more than happy to shift things around, plus he's the one traveling and we're technically home so it's no problem moving some things around"

"He didn't tell me he'd asked you guys to switch the dates"

Grace nodded "It's no big deall. So, tell me, how did you and Dean meet?"

"Oh, my best friend and his sister have been friends since they were little and they kinda set us up" Grace smiled more to herself than for you because she'd accomplished her mission, to get you into a conversation.

By the time Tucker called for you for dinner you and Grace were well on your way to becoming friends. Dean sat next to you with his thigh flush against yours the entire time and this time around the conversation shifted to more of their present lives as well as them asking about you, the awkwardness you'd felt before still there but less now.

When you were done eating you found yourself not knowing what to do again as Sabrina, Hannah and Grace offered to do the dishes and didn't let you join since you were the guest. Dean kept you close still as you settled into the living room again to watch the football game, you'd just gotten comfortable when you felt a small tug on your sweater, when you looked down Jamie stood there with wide eyes and a crayon she offered to you in hand, when you took it she smiled and gestured to the coffee table in front of you where she'd been coloring.

You smiled back and shimmied down to sit on the stop next to her, she passed you a sheet of paper and went back to coloring, you did the same doodling a lobsided orange cat "Uncle Dee" She screeched and pointed at your paper, you chuckled.

"Think this looks like your uncle Dean?" You asked, she nodded enthusiastically.

"What are you two plotting about?" Dean slid down behind you bracketing you between his legs.

"You!" The little girl pointed at your paper.

"Oh is that me huh?" Jamie nodded "Okay, then I think I need someone by my side" He took the black crayon and drew his own messed up cat "There, that's you" He poked your side, you scoffed in fake indignance.

"Jamie!" She plopped herself on your lap and drew her own rendition of a cat, a purple ball with a tail and shaky ears.

"That you?" you asked, she noddded enthusiastically "Yeah, prettiest of the cats" You watched. asshe hijacked your drawing and added every color available to her.

Dean and you didn't notice, too enthralled by the little girl on your lap and her babbles about the drawing, but all of his friends stared at you in complete awe.

"He looks gone" Hannah whispered to the two girls by her side.

"I never tought I'd see Dean like that" Grace added.

"He looked at her like that the entire night" Sabrina nodded "He's really in love"

On the other side of the living room, the guys had stopped their banter about the game, their attention now on you three.

"Think she's the one?" Tucker, ever the romantic, asked his friends half expecting them to throw out jokes but found agreement instead.

"Yup"

"Oh, absolutely"

When it came time for you to leave, having yet another plane to catch tonight, you said goodbye to Jamie who'd stayed up later than usual and pouted when she realized you were leaving before her dad took her upstairs to her room and then got surprised when Hannah hugged you and mentioned hanging out again. Sabrina approached you last, hesitant at first.

"Thanks for coming tonight, I hope you enjoyed it, I know we can be a bit much sometimes" She said "But I'm glad you came"

You smiled "Thank you for inviting me" It hadn't been much, but it had been enough for both of you to understand that there was no hostility there, that you'd enjoy your time and that maybe there could be a friendship some day.

"Have so much fun, call me when you land, be safe, I love you" Dean had wanted to walk you all the way to your gate, for safety reasons and because he just wanted the extra time with you but with the airport being as full as it was because of the date you'd both decided it was better this way, with him dropping you off and staying in the car.

"I'll try, I will, I'll do my best and I love you too" You kissed one last time and you left.

The perk of flying home the night before thanksgiving had been that by the time you'd arrived home you'd gone straight to sleep without having to spend too much time with your parents who you'd yet to have a full conversation with since the call where they found out about Dean and the next day everyone had been extremely busy with prep that you hadn't had to really talk to anyone until later into the night when everyone got together for the actual dinner.

You often joked to your manager that you didn't need media training because you'd grew up with a nosy family who would not stop trying to pry information out of you until you gave them an answer that satisfied them, thats where you found yourself during dinner. Your aunts had been rapid firing questions your way since you'd sat down "Sorry, need her, cousin emergency" Your cousin pulled you away from the conversation with a sweet smile he'd definitely put on for show and steered you to another table where the rest of your cousins your age sat.

"You could've done that a bit sooner" You smacked his chest playfully "They almost convinced me of getting them all tickets to see Coldplay because they're convinced I can just text Chris Martin and get them, I have never even met the guy!"

He laughed and shook his head "I'm still waiting for the Kendrick ones"

"I am not a ticket machine, I can't get you all concert tickets for people i don't know" You slumped into a chair and stole some chips from your other cousin's plate.

"Does that mean I can get tickets for Sabrina?" You have her a dirty look "You said no tickets for people you didn't know, you know Sabrina" She shrugged.

"No tickets, period" You told them.

"So when you go on tour, does that mean we have to buy our own tickets?" Another cousin asked.

"When is the new tour?"

"Whenever I write a new album" You grumbled accepting a beer someone passed you "If i ever write again"

"I thought devastating hearbreak was a pretty good thing to happen for songwriters" One of your cousins said, someone else gasped.

"Hey!" Greg, the one that had saved you, pointed at them "Too soon"

You chuckled "No no, I thought the same, turns out it's not that easy"

"That doesn't surprise me" Daisy, one of your cousins you practically grew up with shrugged "You've always been a romantic, most of your songs are about love and heartbreak is like that but not"

"So what you're saying is she needs to find a new lover" Jax, her brother, wiggled his eyebrows.

The whole table erupted "Ew" "Stop" "Never say the word lover again" "I will shave your eyebrows when you fall asleep" He scoffed.

"I can so write something that's not a love song" You said indignantly.

"Show us your notes" Greg put his hand out for your phone, you stared at him "You are always writing stuff on your notes, I assume you have at least a line or two, show us"

"Have you not been writing at all?" Daisy sounded surprised, she couldn't remember a day since you learned how to write that you hadn't scribbled down something that rhymed down, when you were kids that meant a lot of poems about whatever bug you'd seen while playing outside or the sandwich you ate during lunch break at school, then as you grew so did the topics, but you still wrote "There's just no way"

The truth had been you'd written stuff, more than just a few lines, you had almost a whole song and at least three more ideas that could turn into something, the problem? They'd all been love songs, all written for Dean or about Dean, and while you'd slipped up and let your parents know, you didn't really want to add more people to the list of those who knew.

"You have been writing" Greg accused "Look at your face! What are you hiding?"

Daisy who noticed your hesitancy jumped in "Okay, she doesn't have to show us anything, you guys are acting like our parents" That'd been enough for everyone to shut up and move on, you mouthed a thank you to her, she winked at you.

Later, when everyone had been distracted with enough alcohol Daisy and you found yourselves on the swingset outside, close enough to the party that no one thought to go and find you but far enough from prying ears.

"So who is he?" She asked.

You sighed, of course she knew "His name's Dean, we've been together for five months, he's a hockey player and my parents haven't met him yet but somehow already don't like him"

She tilted her head "Why?"

"Because he's an athlete and Theo was an athlete and they're convinced that means Dean's not serious about us"

Daisy nodded "And is he? Serious about you, I mean. Do you feel he is?"

You nodded "Yeah, I… it's stupid, Alyssa set us up, I didn't even want to go on that stupid date, but I'm so grateful I did, the whole time he just… was there, present" You turned to her, she'd been looking at you curiously "And I know that's like the bare minimum but… after Theo that was really refreshing and these past months? God Dais, I'd been ready to give up on love and then he came up out of nowhere and boom"

"You're in love"

"Yeah" You whispered "I really am"

"And he loves you back" She pointed out, you hummed in agreement "So then why not show that to your parents?"

"Because" You said "I don't think he has to prove himself to them, he already did that for me and that should be enough but apparently it isn't"

"So this is not really about your relationship with him but your relationship with your parents" Your cousin concluded.

"What?"

"You seem like you have no doubts about Dean" She declared "And what's bothering you is that your parents are stubborn about who you date, worried, you're mad about them not trusting your judgement"

"They're treating me like a little girl" You mumble "Like I can't make my own decisions"

"So tell them that" She shrugged "And then tell them exactly what you told me about your relationship, I'm sure once they see how in love you are they'll be okay"

You did, that night when you got home you'd sat your parents down and explained all your feelings to them, you'd put extra emphasis on how much Dean meant to you and how you wished they could see that and accept it. And two days later you'd gotten on a plane with them and flown home to New York City where you planned on introducing them.

Your mom had insisted on cooking dinner even though you repeatedly told her you could just order something or that Dean had offered to pick something on his way to your apartment, so when your boyfriend rang the doorbell your mom was elbows deep in whatever she'd been cooking up on the kitchen while you fought with your dad over UNO rules because even after you'd forced him to play the game with you for years he still couldn't grasp them.

"You just can't put a yellow card on top of a red one, that's simply not the way the game works" You huffed getting up to open the door, your cards stayed in your hand because you knew if they didn't he'd take a peek at them.

"It's a plus two though" Your dad argued.

"Still doesn't work like that dad" You walked away and left him on the couch mumbling about you being scared of taking the cards and losing to him or something like that.

"Am I late? I feel like I'm late, I got here like 10 minutes ago but Summer had me hostage over the phone because apparently she's planning a whole renovation of her apartment, I had to remind her that she rents said place and therefore cannot legally just demolish a wall because it doesn't fit the feng shui" Dean rambled when you opened the door.

You gave him an amused look "You're not late stop freaking out"

"Easy for you to say" He mumbled.

"You're going to be okay" You pulled him in for a kiss but he dodged you "Excuse you?" You asked with raised eyebrows.

"I don't want your parents to think I'm a derranged pervert"

"For kissing your girlfriend hello?" You questioned "Don't be a prude Dean"

"Well forgive me for wanting to be a gentleman" He defended.

"Is that what the flowers are for?"

"Come on, don't act like I don't get you flowers at least once a week" It was true, ever since you started dating and probably even before, a bouquet of flowers showed up at your door without missing weekly. Sometimes he'd deliver them himself when he came to visit, but if he was on a particularly long roadie, or he knew your schedules would not line up that week then he'd schedule a delivery service to get them to you.

You rolled your eyes playfully "Come in"

"You sure?" He asked nervously.

"Unless you want to have dinner on your first time meeting my parents in the hallway" You shrugged, he whispered a 'fair enough' and walked in.

"So I know you said no to my plus two but how about a reverse?" Your dad asked when you walked back in.

"Is it red?"

"Blue"

"Then no"

"You just don't want to see me win"

You rolled your eyes "Dad, this is Dean, Dean, my dad"

"How are ya son?"

"Nice to meet you sir" Dean nodded back at your dad.

"I heard our guest" Your mom emerged from the kitchen, her apron still on and hands dusted with flour.

"Yeah, mom, Dean, Dean, my mom" You pointed back and forth.

"A pleasure" Dean spoke, then remembered he'd been holding flowers "Oh, these are for you" Your mom took the bouquet he extended her way and thanked him "And these are yours honey" He handed you the other one, a mix of wildflowers just like you preferred, you usually got these ones, with whatever combination of flowers that were growing that season because you once told him that although you thought roses were pretty, you'd always loved mismatched wildflowers better.

"Thanks" You smiled taking them.

Your mom saw it then, the glint in your eye she hadn't seen in a while, the way your smile was relaxed and free, like the kind that adorned your face when you were younger, back when your life didn't consist on camera flashes and music videos and perfectly curated social media posts, back when you were just a girl who liked music and enjoyed writing her thoughts and dreams in journals. That's when she realized not only how much Dean meant to you but how good he was for you too.

"Dean" Your mom spoke, Dean immediately stood up straighter, he remembered the conversation he'd overheard the week before, he knew your parents weren't sure about him, and he'd be damnned if he was going to give them another reason to dislike him, she however had done the unthinkable in that moment, your mom took a few steps forward and wrapped the man in her arms "We're so glad you could make it tonight"

Dean froze for a second before he returned the hug "I'm glad to be here too"

When your mom let him go and instructed your dad to go into the kitchen and help her and you two had been left alone you spoke "That was…" He exhaled a surprised 'yeah' "You have flour all over you now" You dusted away some of it.

"That's okay" He waved you off "She hugged me…"

"Yeah"

"She didn't seem to hate me"

"No she did not"

"And your dad didn't punch me"

"Why would he…?"

"I came mentally prepared to be punched by him, maybe by your mom too, I don't know, is your mom more of a punch or slap kind of person?"

You had looked at him like he'd lost it "Neither? Where is this coming from?"

"I don't know" He admitted "I just… I mean I thought they hated me"

"They didn't hate you, they just weren't thrilled about me dating another athlete, but even if they hated you they would've not punched you what the hell?"

He shrugged "Just to be cleared, I would've totally taken a punch for you"

"Good to know, let us hope it never comes to that"

Dinner went well, your parents, as promised, gave Dean a chance and asked about him with an open mind. By dessert you were all laughing at Dean's stories about his time ocaching a little league in College and your mom had pulled you aside to apologize and tell you how much she liked him when you were doing the dishes.

"I count that as a win" Dean said later when you were standing in the hallway after he'd said his goodbyes to your parents "Your dad asked when our next home game was, he said he wanted to come watch"

"Mom said, and I quote 'I can even look over the fact that he's blonde' so yeah, I think they liked you" You told him.

"What is that supposed to mean?" He frowned.

"You know… blonde guys are usually not trustworthy"

"That's a thing?"

You shrugged "To some people, don't worry blondie, we stand by you in this household"

"Thank God for that" He rolled his eyes playfully "Hey, I've gotta go, early media day tomorrow"

"Okay, drive safe, text me when you get home" He nodded and pulled you in for a kiss "Thank you for tonight"

"No need to thank me honey" He held you close "I love you"

"I love you too"

"We owe you an apology" Your dad said when you walked back into the apartment, both your parents were sat on the couch now.

"It's okay" You waved them off, you didn't need a verbal apology, the whole night and how they treated Dean had already felt like one.

"We do, we couldn't see it before, how we were diminishing your decisions" Your mom continued "But seeing you with him tonight made us remember that you're not a kid anymore, you're a grown adult who is completely capable of making her own decisions, and good ones at that"

Your dad nodded "And you have good judgement, you surround yourself with good people because you are a good person. And of course we're not all perfect so there will be times when the people you meet and bring into your life won't be the best, but we need to let you find that out yourself and just be there for you if it goes wrong in the end"

"Thank you" You sat down in between them the way you used to when you were a kid on Sunday mornings and woke up to them watching the tv on a low volume while having breakfast in the living room couch "I love you guys"

"And we love you too baby" Your mom brushed away your hair as your dad pulled you into his side.

"Now, I believe we have a game of UNO to finish"

"Nope, I'm way too tired to keep arguing about the color of the cards with you, no more UNO"

"Dean would've played UNO with me"

"Dad, you're not allowed to team up with my boyfriend against me" You mumbled "Knowing him, he'd charmed his way into changing the rules so you two would win every time"

3.Slut!

"That's it" You smiled at your producer, you'd spent the last two weeks practically living in the studio trying to get your ideas transformed into actual songs and you'd finally gotten one perfectly how you'd imagined.

"Did you decide on the name?"

"Peace" You announced with a nod.

You'd decided to visit Alyssa after getting out of the studio with the plan of going out to celebrate finally finishing a song and having a few more real close to being done.

"Oh! Hi!" Summer greeted you at the door instead, pulled you into a hug and then to Alyssa's room before you could ever react.

"Hey! I didn't know you were around"

"Yeah, I finally got my landlord to agree to let me take that wall down so I'm staying here until that's done" She explained.

Alyssa came out of the bathroom with a towel on her hair then "Hey! I thought you were at the studio"

"I was" Your smile widened "Great news, I finished a song, like fully done, ready to drop finished!"

The two women in front of you looked at each other before launching into you with shrieks of excitement, you three ended up on the bed as you told them all about your session and the other songs you had that still needed some work but looked promising.

"I was thinking we could go out and celebrate?" You asked and saw them make a face.

"We were kinda getting ready for Dean's game" Summer said, right, the rangers were playing the Devils today, a big rivalry that always made for a great action packed game.

"Oh, right"

"You could always come with us" Alyssa suggested.

"Yes! Dicky got the whole family season tickets, he does that every year, Lyss is taking Nick's, you could take mom's"

"I don't know if that's a great idea" You hesitated "I mean, if someone catches a glimpse of me they'll turn it into a full story, especially if they notice you're Dean's sister"

"So we play it off as if you're just one of my friends" Summer shrugged "You don't have to wear his jersey or anything, just come and watch, I'm sure he'll love the surprise"

"Yes! Let's surprise him! Come on, we'll wear disguises, I actually think if we deck up on team merch no one will even realize who you are"

You knew it had been a bad idea since Alyssa said it, but you'd also been excited about finally getting back into the rythm of making music and you wanted to celebrate, plus you'd wanted to go see your boyfriend play ever since you'd started dating so you'd said fuck it and gone with it.

Your seats had been on the family stands, not an official place but somewhere all the players families usually sat when they watched the games, it was not front row and unless you knew who you were looking for, it was kind of impossible to single people out of the crowd, so it was a perfect place for you to sit in, or so you'd thought.

Everything had been fine at first, you'd stayed with Alyssa while Summer went down to the glass during warm ups to say hi to Dean, but while down there Summer had also told Dean about you, you'd seen the exact same moment where his eyebrows had gone up in question, then his eyed widened in recogtition before he looked up at your seats and the sweetest smile broke in his face, Summer had quickly banged on the glass to bring him back when she realized his lovesick look that would get you caught if he kept for too long.

Then he'd scored his first goal of the game during the first period, he'd done his uual celebration but thrown a look your way too, the second period hadn't been too interesting with neither team scoring but Dean had come into the third one with like an unstoppable force. he'd zoomed around the other team, stolen pucks easily, gotten himself into what you liked to call 'time out box' for a penalty and then came out, taken the puck and shot straight into the net scoring his second goal of the night, you'd cheered loudly with the crowd in between Summer and Alyssa.

And then, just a few minutes later he'd done it again, he'd scored his first hat trick of his professional career, the whole arena had gone crazy, and in the heat of the celebration you'd joined throwing your hat too, that had gotten people's attention and somehow landed you in the jumbotron as you jumped with the two women you'd been with. The jumbatron had also caught Dean looking up at it showing you celebrating proudly.

A few people around you had asked for pictures once the game had been over, you'd obliged before the arena's security stepped in and escorted you, Alyssa and Summer down and into the tunnels where you waved to the few lucky fans who'd been there too.

Dean had practically ran your way when he noticed you were there, but thankfully Summer had stepped in front and intercepted him into a hug before he reached you "There's lots of people and cameras around you idiot" She's whisper shouted into his ear while she hugged him "Act like she's my friend instead of your girlfriend, hug her like you would Alyssa"

He'd tried, really, he'd hugged Alyssa first and left you for last, but then the moment you were in his arms he felt all the tension leave him, usually he'd be pretty wound up from the adrenaline of the game, but getting to hold you straight off the ice felt like heaven, you'd also forgotten about where you were until Summer and Alyssa spoke making you separate.

"Dicky you should go take a shower you stink" His sister said.

"Yeah" He let out, eyes still locked on yours.

"We're going out and celebrating twice as hard now" Alyssa said, Dean raised an eyebrow.

"I finished a song" You anounced and he looked ready to dive straight back into your arms.

Instead he settled with a big smile "Really? I'm so proud of you!"

"Are you kidding? You just scored a hat trick!"

"We're pretty great you know that?"

The club had been full of life by the time you made it there. Half of Dean's team had decided to show up and in the dim lights of it the blonde had decided he had enough of pretending not to be completely in love with you and instead had pulled you straight into his lap as soon as you'd arrived at the VIP area.

"No one's paying attention to us" He'd whispered in your ear "Let's stop hiding just for tonight"

And you had, you'd drank, danced,kissed, he'd held you the entire time, his hand always on your body. By the time you decided to leave it was probably around 3 or 4 AM and you were all so tired nobody cared to worry about what could've been waiting for you outside the club.

You'd been not just tired but also drunk enough to not care about the cameras flashing when you stepped out with Dean's hand on yours, your lipstick smudged and hints of it on his face, you just walked with your head slightly down and let your boyfriend lead you, his sister and your best friend to his car.

The next morning you knew that day would be a full headache regardless of if you took a hangover remedy or not as images of walking out of the club with Dean flashed in your head, you groaned and pushed your face deeper into your pillows dreading getting out of bed and having to deal with life.

You'd almost fallen back asleep when Alyssa started knocking on the door "Make her go away" Dean mumbled into your neck where he'd burried his face into.

"Trust me I wish nothing more than to go back to sleep" Alyssa called from behind the door "But I have like 5 people on a conference call right now and I need you"

"Ugh" You complained and datached yourself from your whining boyfriend "Coming!"

"Don't go" Dean asked and you almost gave in and tucked yourself back into his arms, but you knew you had to deal with this now rather than later.

"I'll be right back"

"So what exactly are you saying right now?" Your agent asked after a long call about last night.

"Well there's not much more we can do really" You said "It's pretty obvious we left together"

"We can just play it off as if it was a one night thing, not say anything, you two stay inside for a couple days" Someone from your pr team suggested.

That would've been the easy option, a way to keep living your life the same you've been until now, keep your relationship a secret, your private life private, but you're not too sure you want that anymore. You obviously still want your privacy, but you don't want to keep living the rest of your life hiding your relationship in your apartments, you want to be able to go out with him, support him in his games, have dates, holidays, celebrate your love freely without constantly worrying about slipping up accidentally.

"I don't think I want to do that" You finally replied "I mean, I'm not saying I want to do a formal statement but maybe we just I don't know, live or lives normally, if people see us then so be it"

"You'll probably recieve some backlash" Your agent told you "You know how people are, they will talk"

"Yeah, but they will do that regardless, this way at least they'll have something to talk about" You shrugged even though they couldn't see you, on your side Alyssa smiled proudlyshe'd wanted nothing more than for you to love freely.

"Okay" Your agent accepted "If that's what you want"

The internet had been a war zone for the following week, there had been all kinds of comments, from supportive fans being excited about your relationship to haters who criticized everything and called, mainly, you rude names.

"I'm sorry you're the one taking most of the hate" Dean apologized one quiet night as you laid in bed.

You had looked up at him and said "It's okay, for once I feel like it's all worth it because at the end of the day that's just noise and being here in your arms mutes it all"

"I love you" He kissed you slowly "Always"

New York City - Wednesday at noon

The rooftop garden had been transformed so beautifully you wouldn't have believed you were in the middle of the city if it weren't for the surrounding buildings, there were stacks of hay, barrels, wood fixtures, hats, cow print all around and little horses decorating the entire place. Dean's mom had gone all out and spared no expenses for her grandchild's first birthday, she'd insisted on throwing the party and had made sure to include you in every step of the planning.

Now, Sebastian is toddling around dresses in an adorable cowboy outfit completed with the tiniest cowboy boots gifted to him by his uncle Tuck.

"He looks like he's enjoying himself" Dean stands by your side and you both look out at Sebastian laughing as he plays on the ball pit.

"Yeah he does" You sigh "The boys here yet?"

"Logan just texted, they're on their way from the airport right now"

"Think Tuck will show up in full cowboy get up?" You joke.

He laughs "One hundred percent"

Tucker does show up in a full cowboy outfit complemented with the hat and buckle belt and all of Dean's mom's friends go crazy for the young handsome cowboy and treat him as if he were the entertainment.

When it is time to cut up the cake you all stand around the table with Sebastian in Dean's arms and sing Happy Birthday to him, you had been scared that he wouldn't like it, but once again, he proves he is his father's son and loves the attention he's getting, you let him have his own smash cake that he demolishes completely and laugh when he gives you the biggest frost covered smile ever.

You're trying to clean him when Garrett finally approaches, as usual it takes him a bit to warm up to the baby, and he's still awkward around him a year after, Seb doesn't care about his uncle's clear unsure attitude towards him though because he reaches for him every time he can and today is not the exeption.

His hands are covered in frosting still but he makes grabby motions at Garrett who freezes "He's not an explosive you know?" You chuckle at his reaction.

"I know, but I don't want to… break him" You almost choke at his words.

"I'm sorry what?"

"I don't know how to hold a baby, I don't want to mess up and drop him or something"

"Garrett, he's pretty sturdy" You tell him "Plus he's sadly not a tiny baby anymore, he'll adjust himself until he feels safe and comfortable"

"Right"

Sebastian shrieks at Garrett not picking him up and then lets out a "GA!"

"He's calling for you Ga" You chuckle and hand him over.

Garret's face scrunches up in disgust when your son puts his hands on it "He's sticky"

"It's just frosting" You shrug and hand him a wet towel "Here"

You're getting a glass of lemonade when you notice Tucker's call for help, he's stuck in between a group of older women, Mrs. Di Laurentis' friends for sure. He smiles at them with the politeness that only Tucker can conjure and then when he notices you looking at him gives you a pleading look to get him out if there.

Laughing a little you approach them "Hello ladies, I have to steal our resident cowboy for a minute to get some pictures before the birthday boy gets the sugar crash"

"Oh okay, but you're returning him to us after!" One of them says.

You nod "Yes ma'am" And grab his arm pulling him away.

"You're my life saver, I could kiss you right now" He tells you.

"Let's not do that at our kid's first birthday huh bud?" Dean appears out of nowhere and stands in between the two of you.

You turn to him immediately at that "Dean, are you jealous?"

"No, I just think we should have some decorum and you two making out at a one year old's party is the right move" The blonde shrugs nonchalantly.

"Okay but what about a little peck?" You question, Tucker has a small smirk pulling on his face that he's trying to stop.

"Mmm no, still don't think you should do that"

"Damn, I was about to suggest you two did a couple pictures with Seb and one of the poses might have included a little peck between his parents" Jules materializes out of thin air like they have the whole day as the designated photographer "But if this is a kiss free zone then oh well…"

You know they are baiting him so you just bite down a laugh and say "What a shame, that sounded kinda cute actually"

"Well no, see, that would be different"

"How exactly?" Tucker asks crossing his arms.

"We're his parents!" Dean argues "We should have all the cute family pictures!"

"But you just said no kissing during a first birthday party, something about lacking decorum" Tucker reminds him.

"Between you two" The dad points out "Because you are not together so you'd be just kissing without a relationship and that's just…"

"Okay but we're not together either so…" You say, Jules nods beside you.

"But we're his parents and-"

He gets cut off by Garrett holding Seb away from him as if he were toxic "Right, so as his parents please take the kid, he kinda stinks"

Dean grabs the baby without fight "You're weak bro, he doesn't even smell that bad"

Tucker gets a step closer and gags making you all laugh "Holy fuck, he smells worse than the locker room"

"Who smells worse than the locker room?" Logan joins the group.

"Seb"

"He can't be that bad"

"Wanna check?"

"Nope"

New York City Apartment - Wednesday night

The apartment's living room looks like a toy store. Sebastian is asleep in his room worn out from all the excitement of the day, your friends are in the guest rooms and you and Dean are going through the photos Jules sent you on his laptop in the middle of the living room.

"We did good" Dean smiles looking at one picture where Seb looks to be having the time of his life while eating his cake.

"Yeah, we're doing a pretty good job" You agree and change the picture to one of you holding him "Look at how happy he looks"

"So pretty" You look up to find Dean looking at you now.

Your face softens "Dean"

"I know" He says "But… I mean what if? We never even tried"

"Dean, I adore you, you're the best dad I could've asked for for Seb, and you're a great guy all around but we can't risk this not working out when there's a whole other person who depends on us" You tell him and see him frown.

"But how do you know it's not going to work out? We do great together, we're a great team, today was clear proof of that"

"You don't want this, not really, at least not now. Today was great, but we're going back to school next week and things will change, you are not ready for the kind of commitment that comes with a relationship, let alone one with so much on the stake" You try to explain, he looks defleated.

"You don't get to speak for me" He doesn't raise his voice and that hurts more because you've never seen him look like this "Maybe I am ready for the commitment, you don't know that"

"You love sex, you love one night stands, you never hook up with the same girl twice unless you've deemed enough time has passed and you make a face every time one of your friends mentions anything relationship related" You point out.

"What face? I don't make a face" He argues "But that's besides the point, yes, I love sex but if we were together then we could have sex, so much sex, great sex, I remember, we're great together in that too"

"Stop saying sex please" You stop him "Just answer me this, if I hadn't come to you and tell you I was pregnant, would you have even considered calling me again?" He thinks about it "Exactly, we can't risk it Dean" You stand up leaving the laptop by his side "Goodnight Dean"

Off Campus apartment - Saturday morning

You haven't seen Dean that much in the past week, he was supposed to help you move but then had to help Summer with something last minute and had recruited the guys to help you instead, you know he was lying about it. The guys barely looked at you while helping you bring everything into your new apartment, not because they were mad at you for rejecting their friend but because every time they tried to say something it came out too awkward.

So now you're left to unpack everything by yourself, at least Tucker offered to babysit Seb for a few hours so you didn't have to worry about him for a bit, you have the suspicion he's actually taking your son back to the hockey house so Dean can see him because he's been weird about visiting too, he's seen Sebastian of course, he can't go more than a day without seeing him, but usually the guys would ask to take him or he'd pick him up for the day without saying much to you even though you were practically living together, yes, he also slept in his family's apartment instead of your shared one.

"Super important favor to ask" Hannah speaks into the phone when you pick up.

"Shoot" You're unpacking the kitchen.

"My bike seems to have gotten banged up on the trip back, any chance you know how to fix the uh… is it the chains? I think its the chains" She sounds like she's moving the bike around and it doesn't seem to sound too good.

"No idea, actually, I don't even think I know how to ride a bike" You admit "But I have someone who can probably fix it for cheap for you"

"Great! can I drop it off at yours? It's closer than the dorms and-" She stops herself "Wait, did you just say you don't know how to ride a bike?"

"Yeah?"

"You can't not know how to ride a bike. How old are you? Three?"

"I just never learned" You shrug not seeing the big deal "I have bad balance"

"You have a whole child, who's gonna teach your kid how to ride a bike if you don't know how to?" Hannah sounds personally offended by your lack of knowledge in riding a bike.

"His dad probably, he's the athletic one" You answer.

"Absolutely not, you're learning how to ride a bike this semester, mark my words, we're getting my bike fixed and then I'm teaching you"

"Why is this a semester activity? Don't kids learn in like a week?"

"Well yes, but I have like three jobs plus school and you have a kid and work and school so we'll probably not have that much time and therefore we'll take it slow whenever we can" She explains.

"Hannah, if it takes longer than a week for you to teach me how to ride a bike I'm giving up"

"Nooo"

"Yes"

"No"

"Yes"

She sighs "Fine, a week" And accepts "But it can't be this week cause I need to get my schedule set"

"Okay, just let me know"

"Cool, I'm going to be the best teacher ever, we're getting matching helmets and I'm getting you knee and elbow pads and-"

"Hey Han" You interrupt her she hums "Just bring your bike over so we can get it fixed hopefully before classes start on Monday"

"Right, be there in five"

Hockey house - Tuesday afternoon

"Dude, this is getting ridiculous" Logan passed Sebastian to his dad, you'd just dropped him off before your shift at Malone's "She gave me the baby, we said three words and she left, you're telling me you can't exchange three words with her?"

"Of course I can, I just needed to pee" Dean defended, Logan raised his eyebrows.

"And you couldn't hold it for like one minute?"

"No"

"Maybe I'll get you adult diapers for your next birthday then" The roommate scoffed and walked away.

"I do not need adult diapers" Dean mumbled "You have enough diapers for the both of us right bud?" Seb blinked at him.

"Dada!" He happily clapped his dad's cheeks between his little hands.

"You are too strong for your little body, you know that?" Dean winced at the hit "Maybe we'll start you on hockey early, or football, rugby maybe? A contact sport for sure dude"

Hockey house - Thursday morning

Something the four roommates had been blessed with this semester was their schedules lining up perfectly on Thursdays, well, not to the dot, but none of them had any lectures in the morning. Last night you'd dropped Sebastian off with them since you were planning on going for a job interview before your first class of the day and thought it better to let Sebastian sleep fully at his dad's rather than wake him up earlier than needed.

Dean woke up around nine and while still half asleep reached around his bed to find Sebastian who'd been sleeping next to him, he jumped up when he couldn't feel him."Seb? Buddy?" He was panicking leaving the room in just his briefs when he realized the baby wasn't there. His head was pounding as he sprinted down the stairs, probably from the way he jumped off his bed.

"Seb?" He repeats looking around "Sebastian Di Laurentis where the hell are you?"

"Dada?" His little head peaked over the couch, blonde strands of hair a mess and sleepy eyes.

"Oh my god, Seb what are you doing here?" Dean approaches the sofa and finds an image he never thought he'd see in his life.

Garret's sprawled over the surface of the couch fast asleep and Seb's lying on top of him. The tv is on showing some cartoon show and one of Garrett's arms secures the little boy so he doesn't fall off.

"Ga!"

"Yeah, you hanging out with Uncle Garrett?" Sebastian nods and snuggles back into Garrett who mumbles something in his sleep and tightens his hold "Oh I need like 20 pictures of this or no one will believe it's true"

Unfortunately for Garrett, all his friends wake up before he does and get to see just how cuddly and soft their captain can get for his nephew. At some point in the morning Dean decides that although this is something he hates to break up, Seb probably needs a new diaper, he already ate breakfast on top of Garret because he refused to move, but now the father needs to get his son.

"Maybe I'll lie on top of him when you take Seb away and he won't notice the difference" Logan offers.

"Let me just…" Dean stands in front of them, Seb's big eyes looking up at him with a sleepy smile that he's had all morning from how comfortable he's gotten "Okay bud, you need to come with daddy now okay? Promise I'll bring you right back"

Thankfully Sebastian doesn't hate the idea of his dad's arms and goes easily, Garrett however, is a complete different story. The hockey player mumbles angrily in his sleep and tightens his hold, when Dean pulls gently he tugs back.

"Why is he not letting go?" Tucker asks in disbelief "He can barely hold him when he's awake but asleep he's like velcroed to him"

"Garrett, dude" Dean sighs and pushes him "You have to let go, you can't steal my kid"

"Mmm no" Garrett turns away taking a giggling Sebastian with him.

"I'm waking him up" Logan says before leaning down and pinching his shoulder hard, Garrett jumps up and they bump heads "Aw fuck!"

"What the fuck!" Garrett exclaims holding his head in pain finally letting go of the baby who burts out laughing at his uncles being in pain, Dean takes him rolling his eyes.

"You're on babysitting duty next time I need someone to look after him by the way!" Dean shouts as he walks up the stairs back to his room for the diaper change. In the background he can hear Tucker dying of laughter and the other two idiots complaining about their hit

Off campus apartment - Thursday night.

Dean finally decides to start acting like an adult again, meaning he's actually dropping Sebastian off at your apartment instead of just sending one of the guys over to do it. "I can do this" He says to Seb, or himself, he doesn't really know "It's just mama, no need to be nervous right?"

You open the door right after he knocks and greet him with a simple hello before taking Sebastian and saying goodbye. Dean stands frozen but reacts last second and pushes his foot to wedge the door and keep it open.

"I'm sorry" You give him a confused look "I've been an asshole these past few days, I'm kinda proving your point and I don't want it to be like this for the next 17 years"

Your face softens "Now you understand me then?"

"Well no, I still think we could've given it a try" He says "But I'm not pressuring you into anything"

"Dean, I barely saw you this week even though Sebastian was with you every other day, I can't do that for however many years we have to, it's not fair to anyone. I want to have a good civil relationship with you for as long as we are taking care of Sebastian, whether that is for the next 17 years or until he's 30, but you deciding you're no longer talking to me for a week because I told you I didn't want to risk that with a relationship doesn't exactly make me want to change my mind about it"

"I hear you, I'm sorry" He looks down at his feet "I- yeah, I'm sorry, I'll try to go back to the way it was before, let me just process the double rejection" He jokes.

"Sure man, take your time, just please don't send the guys to come pick and drop Seb off anymore, my pantry is screaming from how empty it is, they always take the good snacks"

It's safe to say Dean makes the guys go to the store and get you all the snacks they took from you and more the next day threatening to ruin all their chances of scoring in their next game if they don't.