nhl one-shots | multi

last christmas | m. barzal

Anthony sighed. "I don't know. I'm sorry." He mumbled.

Y/N picked at her beef and broccoli and frowned. She didn't want to dampen the Christmas holiday with her feelings of heartache- which was another reason she had been neglecting to tell Mathew how she felt. Christmas was just two days away and if she were to tell him now, it could ruin everything.

Walking into the locker room the next morning, Anthony didn't know how he was going to look at Mat and not spill everything that Y/N had said to him. He kept his head down for most of the day, drawing the attention from the guys in the locker room. "You alright Tito?" Mat asked, skating up to him as they prepared for the next drill.

Stiffening immediately, Anthony glanced up and captured his friend's gaze. "Yeah yeah- just uh a lot on my mind." It wasn't a lie, but Mat knew that there was more to the story. He narrowed his eyes in confusion but nodded and went to take his place on the line for drills.

Anthony knew that he would have to talk to Y/N again because he couldn't keep getting caught in the middle like this. On more than one account, Mathew had grown suspicious of why he was going out so much. The two of them shared an apartment so it wasn't as though he could keep his business much of a secret.

As the team was packing up at the end of the day, Mat overheard Tito's conversation with Anders. "Any plans tonight?" The older man asked.

Tito shrugged. "Gonna go see Y/N for a bit." He mentioned. That was his first mistake. Anthony knew he shouldn't have mentioned the girl around the team, but he didn't want to lie- and as far as he was aware, Mat wasn't in earshot of the conversation.

Anders furrowed his brows. "Didn't you see her last night?" He asked, knowing that Mat had always been closer to the girl than the frenchman was. Maybe there was a relationship going on that he hadn't been aware of.

Nodding softly, Anthony shrugged. "Yeah but I want to see her again- gotta talk about some stuff."

Mat gritted his teeth as he took off his practice jersey and threw it in the bin to be washed he was so confused. Why did Y/N cancel on him last night and why did Anthony say that he was going to Y/N's. Were they dating and Y/N bailed on his plans to go see Beauvillier?

Shaking his head, he grabbed his duffle and decided that he would just have to see Y/N first and clear everything up. The drive to her apartment was rather long but Mat had a lot of questions rolling through his mind that couldn't wait.

She wouldn't be home from work for a while, but he planned on waiting.

He had calmed down a bit and started to come to the conclusion that he was maybe overthinking things, that was until Anthony's car was pulling up in the space next to his.

"What are you doing here?" Anthony furrowed his brows, getting out of the car. He knew exactly why he was there himself, but to see mat there made his skin crawl. Part of him felt nervous- protective, almost as if Mat was posing a threat. He knew that the man would be no such thing, but he couldn't help but worry.

In the time that Mathew had been there, it would seem that Anthony had gone home and grabbed a change of clothes. "What am I doing here? What are you doing here?" Mathew narrowed his eyes.

The tension between the two of them was thick. Mathew was immediately on the defensive, not understanding why his friend was seeing his best friend so often. He was worried. He felt an immediate sense of protectiveness wash over him. He knew that Anthony was a good guy, but he knew how Hockey players were for the most part- he didn't think Y/N could handle being in a relationship with someone like that. He was just trying to look out for her.