nhl one-shots | multi

𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙛𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 | 𝙛. 𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙣

Smiling up at the man, Y/N shook her head. "I appreciate it, but I can walk- I wouldn't want to be an inconvenience." Now that was certainly something that Freddie hadn't expected, usually if he offered something, people jumped right to it just cause they thought they were getting something from him.

This woman intrigued him.

As they approached a fork in the hallway tunnels, Freddie sighed. He would have to leave now- part of him wanted to stay and talk to Y/N, but he knew that she had work to do as well. "I'll see you around?" He asked softly, gripping the strap of his duffle bag on his arm as he backed away into the direction of the rink.

Y/N was already on her way in the opposite direction, spinning around on her heel and offering him a laugh. "Sure!"

Before Freddie knew it, she was gone from sight.

Over time the two of them started seeing more and more of each other, whether it was because of a coincidence or purely because Freddie wanted to see her. He had started making extra trips to the equipment room, coming up with reasons to be there- such as, his skates felt off, or he wanted to see what new gear they had in.

No one was used to seeing one the the leafs star players down in the undergrounds so often.

But Y/N took it in stride, she was pleasant to Freddie and everyone else she came into contact with, a pure glow radiating from every interaction people had with her. It wasn't hard to be her friend- which is exactly why Freddie had asked if she wanted to go for coffee.

"Its not a date- I promise, I just think you're nice, and I don't have many friends." He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. There was a grin toying at the side of his lips but he was far too nervous to let it fully develop.

Furrowing her brows, The woman of interest had given him a once over. "I find that hard to believe." She admitted. How was it that this incredibly nice man had no friends? Especially when he was a hockey player.

Freddie just shrugged. "Well- maybe if you let me take you for coffee, you can figure out why." He joked, the ring of Y/N's laughter in his ears made her nerves melt away instantly, she just had this alluring and welcoming aura that he loved to chase.

So going for coffee because a regular occurrence, before games or after practice- Freddie had started to make a habit of hanging out around the girl from the equipment room. If he wasn't able to make a coffee time, he always ensured that he brought one for the woman the next time he saw her, and in return she did the same.

Their coffee habits had translated into dinner and lunch once a week- and it wasn't long after that, that Freddie had started inviting Y/N over to his apartment in the city. They watched Netflix and he did his best to teach her words in Danish, or rather dansk. She wasn't great but she tried.

For the first time since moving to Toronto, Freddie felt comfortable. He knew his routine, he enjoyed it and it was safe. There were no hidden meanings behind anything with Y/N- if she felt something she would tell him. Sometimes she was blunt, but Freddie knew that he could over think things excessively, so having her honesty was for the best.

There were only a few occasions in which Freddie couldn't get a read on Y/N. After knowing her for over a year, she had become pretty much an open book to him. They talked about their dates together and laughed in the terrible outcomes of said dates- and Freddie learned about her family, knowing all about where they were from to even having met them on several occasions when they were in town.

But towards the end of their second year as friends, Y/N had suddenly grown quiet. She was unreadable and that bothered Freddie immensely. He hated that his safe space was suddenly changing. "Are you okay?" He asked her one night, they were sitting on her living room couch watching episodes of some Netflix original that he had long forgotten the name of. Each holding a container of take out in hand, he noticed that Y/N was extremely focused on stabbing her fork into a piece of meat.