nhl one-shots | multi

pull me away | m. tkachuk

When Matthew finally looked up again, he was lost- within a matter of minutes, he had lost the love of his life.

Before Y/N knew it, six months had passed and she was finally moving on. It had been tough at first, everywhere she went, she was reminded of Matthew. Whether it was due to seeing someone wearing his jersey, or driving past a coffee shop they used to frequent at, there was always something to remind her of her ex boyfriend.

Her friends had been quite helpful in getting her mind off of him though, they spent all their free time with Y/N for the first few weeks- just to distract her from the heartache. Of course they weren't there when she went to sleep and her memories turned into dreams, but they had done more than Y/N ever expected.

They would drag her out to bars for drinks or to movie theatres after work and for a while, Y/N was floating through life. She was letting them take her mind off things and in doing so- she had met James.

He was new and interesting, something to help Y/N pass the time. They went on a few dates here and there and before the woman knew it, she was seeing him more often in her life. There were pictures of the two of them plastered all over her instagram. No one really thought anything of it, but one day she decided to post a picture of James kissing her cheek. They had gone out for dinner that night and the picture was just too cute to ignore.

Within a matter of minutes, a familiar contact had appeared on Y/N's phone.

matty <3: So I guess there is really no chance of me getting you back now is there?

The message came as a shock and as Y/N stared down at her screen, she felt like the wind had gotten knocked out of her lungs. She never deleted Matthew's number, but she was sure that she had at least changed his contact. Maybe there was a part of her that kept his number partially because she thought they could become friends again, maybe she never changed his contact because she was sure they would end up together again. Either way, Y/N went into the settings and removed the heart from beside his name. Settling for a simple and bland. "Matthew"

Her fingertips hovered over the keyboard- she thought of sending him a message, but it didn't seem right. She had been the one to ask for the breakup, it wouldn't be fair of her to start texting him and allow old feelings to resurface.

But the messages kept coming, over the next few weeks, Matthew had sent countless messages to her phone and pictures of when they were together. It was like he was haunting her or mocking her. Either way, Y/N ignored him. It wasn't until she had gone out with James and the girls one night that things went too far.

She had posted a picture on her instagram story which had her location on it. A few moments later, her phone was ringing, Matthew's name flashing upon the screen. "I'm at the bar!" He spoke into the phone, almost in shock. Immediately, Y/N whipped her head around- looking up from the table and towards the bar.

True as day, Matthew was standing at the bar, leaning against the soft auburn would countertop and looking in her direction. His curls were hidden under a baseball cap and he hard a long sleeved shirt on- paired with some jeans. He looked good. Cancelling the call, Y/N excused herself from the booth and made her way towards the hockey player.

A nervous expression wearing upon her face. "Are you stalking me?" She tried to joke. Matthew rolled his eyes and greeted her with an awkward hug. "We used to come here all the time... I must say im offended you've brought your new boy toy here." He scoffed.

Y/N pursed her lips, she knew that Matthew didn't like James. Why should he? The man was dating his ex who he had seemingly not gotten over yet. Glancing back at her date, The woman gave him a soft wave to reassure him that everything was fine. Matthew caught her attention again and frowned. "Why are you with him Y/N... You know that I still love you, just give me another chance." He begged.

Suddenly the girl felt hurt fill her chest. "I gave you plenty of chances Matthew, and you did the same for me... But we weren't good for each other- all we did was." She tried to remind him but he cut her off.

"Fight and argue, yeah I know-" he spoke bitterly, crossing his arms, the man looked down. Shaking his head, he took Y/N's hand and locked onto her eyes. "Tell me that you love James the way you love me... tell me that you would rather be with him than me." He pleaded. "I need to hear you say it... for my own sake." He muttered.

But Y/N couldn't do that. No matter how much she liked James, he didn't compare to what she and Matthew had. "He makes me happy Matthew- I deserve to be happy." She defended herself. "But you don't love him." Matthew finished for her.

Pausing for a moment, Y/N glanced at James who was still sitting in the booth. She sighed in defeat. "I don't love him, I can't love him because every time I start to get close to him- I think of you and what we had... you keep pulling me away from him and its not fair." She stressed.

She wanted to hit Matthew, wanted to scream at him for giving her such a tough time, but she couldn't. She loved him and never wanted to hurt him. Matthew sighed and gave her hand a squeeze. "If you can't love him because you're thinking of me... doesn't that show you that im the one you should be with?" He asked rhetorically.

He had a point.

Looking down into her drink, Y/N sighed. She contemplated it for a moment before nodding. "One last chance Matthew... for the both of us- if things don't work out this time, you need to let me go." She proposed.

Smiling softly at her, Matthew chuckled. "Its gonna work this time."