Summary: Y/N and Mat have always been friends. When a confession goes wrong, it changes everything
Pairings: mat x reader, titio x reader
The Christmas lights strung upon Y/N's apartment balcony were Anthony's first indicator that something wasn't right. They were always turned on, sometimes glittering a thousand different colours, or other times remaining in a classic white fashion- he knew that the holiday was one of Y/N's favourites and she went all out- so when he arrived at her apartment complex and found that her lights were turned off, there was a pit of worry beginning to build in his chest. Perhaps he had read her 'come over now' text wrong, maybe she wasn't home and she was actually headed to his place- shaking his head, he checked the messages one last time and realized that he was overthinking.
Y/N had in fact had invited him over.
It was honestly a very strange occurrence to have the woman inviting him anywhere. Of course they are friends but they were not as close as her and Mathew. One of Anthony's teammates. In fact, Tito was pretty sure that mat and Y/N even had plans that night. Something must have happened for her to call him instead.
The ride up to her floor was quiet, the elevator played a static-filled version of 'rocking around the Christmas tree' that over the last week and a half, Anthony had heard far too many times to feel comfortable with.
Ever since Y/N had come to a realization that she was in fact head over heels for Mathew, Anthony had become the one to hear every single thing about it. He didn't mind at first, he knew Y/N needed to talk to someone she trusted that was close to the situation but wouldn't judge her or tell her crush her feelings. So there he was, standing outside of Y/N's apartment for the fifth time in the last 14 days, carrying a box of take-out Chinese in his hand and preparing to listen to his friend get upset.
Anthony had never seen Y/N as anything more than a friend, but as she poured her heart out to him, he realized just how much Mat was missing out on. Y/N wasn't one of the crazy types, she didn't think that she and Mat were destined to be together or that her life would be over if she lost him. She just loved him a lot and didn't know if they were on the same page- so with that uncertainty came an array of fear, sadness and worry.
Anthony had been in the same situation himself.
So as she let him into the apartment and they sat down on the couch together, Anthony made sure there was enough food to go around and that he was up to speed on everything that had happened. He had realized that food often made Y/N a letter more clear headed and less sad- because even if her problems weren't solved by the end of the night, at least she had a nice meal.
"I have no idea what I am supposed to tell him and it fucking hurts okay?" Y/N rubbed her face, she couldn't stop the tears from coming to her eyes as she looked up at her friend. "I love him so much and the fact that I can't tell him pains me." She whimpered. She definitely didn't intend on pouring her heart out to Anthony that night. The plan was to share a bottle of wine with Mat, but after realizing that Y/N could no longer be in the same room with him without breaking down, she knew she had to cancel.
Anthony rubbed his jaw, his slight scruff brushing against his hands. "You should tell him Y/N- I know that Mat is a complicated guy... but telling him would take a lot of weight off your shoulders." He did his best to convince her. There was no telling whether or not Mat actually shared those feelings with Y/N. He had never once mentioned it to him and Anthony knew that Mat was going out with a blonde from the coffee shop down the street. Going out as in hooking up with.
Y/N gulped. "Would he even feel the same? Is there even a point?" She asked hesitantly, her voice came out just above a whisper and she realized that for once, she didn't know what was going on in Mat's head. She used to be able to read him like a book but ever since she had dawned rose coloured glasses, it was like he was a stranger.
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.
Tito sighed. "I gotta talk to Y/N about some stuff. I don't think she would want you hear Mat." He tried to say politely but he knew that as soon as the words left his mouth, he wouldn't be able to take them back.
Mathew looked at him in shock. "How would you know what she wants? Why are you spending so much time with her?" He grumbled. "Are you the reason she cancelled our plans last night."
It was Anthony's turn to roll his eyes and scoff. "Please- you were happy she cancelled your plans because as soon as she said she was busy, you called Jessi from the coffee shop." He spit. Anthony had never realized how protective he had become over Y/N- It wasn't on purpose either, but knowing how she felt about Mathew, it wasn't fair for the dark haired brunette to just show up and hurt her because he was jealous.
"What you and her got a thing now is that what this is?" Mathew crossed his arms, he was annoyed at the fact they were standing in the middle of the parking lot in the cold- which only made his voice grow more bitter.
Anthony shook his head. "We don't Mathew- but anyone would be lucky to have her." He muttered. In the time that he had spent with Y/N his feelings had slightly switched course. He felt for her, he wasn't sure if it was romantically, but he certainly felt as though Mathew didn't deserve her.
In their haste of arguing, neither men had even heard Y/N's car pull up in the spot behind them. She took her keys out, smiling uneasily as she went to make her presence known, but they kept arguing.
Mathew huffed. "She knows how important she is Anthony- and she knows that someday some guy will make her happy."
Anthony's frustrations had become built up and before he could stop himself from talking, he blurted. "She doesn't want just anyone- she wants you asshole!"
"Beau!" Y/n's fear stricken voice broke both men out of their angry haze- the tears of embarrassment in her eyes streaming down her cheeks freely. She was frozen in place. How could he tell Mathew? That wha their one agreement through this whole thing- judge her however he likes, but don't dare tell Mathew.
Whipping his head around, Anthony immediately felt his chest get tight- "I'm so sorry Y/N...." He whispered, knowing full well that he had fucked up. Part of him felt as though he was going to get sick.
Mathew was uncharacteristically quiet, keeping his head low. Y/N gulped as she glanced between the two of them. Sighing softly she nodded towards Anthony's car- silently asking him to leave. "We'll talk later" she mouthed to him
The older man nodded his head and grabbed his keys leaving the driveway. Y/N watched him leave with a heavy heart. She knew that he was probably beating himself up for what had happened- she couldn't be angry at him, not with how much he had helped her throughout the last two weeks.
Glancing at mat, Y/N gulped- fishing her keys out of her pocket. "We should probably talk about this shouldn't we?" She mumbled. She didn't give him room to answer as they headed up to her apartment.
The tension between the two of them was tight- and unfortunately it wasn't sexual tension. She hated that this had happened to them.
Walking into her living room, Y/N set down her bag not bothering to offer Mathew a drink like she usually would. He stood awkwardly with his hands pushed into his pocket in the corner. "I dont want this to change things Y/N." Mat told her. "But If what Anthony said is is true, I'm sorry to tell you but I don't feel the same."
Y/N felt like her chest had been stabbed with a knife. Her heart was aching and she just felt an immense sense of disappointment. She knew that she couldn't expect him to feel the same, she couldn't just pretend that everything wasn't going to change. "That's okay... I get it." She mumbled- staring at the floor.
Mat walked over and wrapped her arms around her. "You'll always be my best friend- Nothing is gonna change that." He reassured her.
And Y/N wished that he was right.
She wished that their weekly movie nights and drinks after games continued, she wished that they would keep going to dinner after exams that everything would go back to the way it was. But they didn't-they didn't continue doing the same things they always did, they didn't continue seeing each other like the proper best friends they claimed they were.
The truth was that even though he was her best friend-once her feelings were out in the open, it made both of them uncomfortable. Especially the fact that her feelings weren't reciprocated.
In the distance that Mat and Y/N had created, Anthony and her had become ever the more closer. He was hanging out at her house and watching sad movies while she cried and ate ice cream, he was brushing her hair out of her face when she fell asleep on his chest after said movie nights- Y/N was over at his house, cooking meals for him and his family when they were in town- she was baking banana bread with him during the quarantine period.
They had bridged the gap between friends and relationship pretty quickly after Y/N's heart had been repaired. It happened so naturally after them hanging out and Y/N swore that Anthony wasn't the rebound. She made sure of that- having herself a few hookups in the weeks that passed after her supposedly ending friendship with Mat. It felt good to do something that got her mind off of him.
So once she was sure she had mat out of her system, she started to slowly put herself back into the lives around her- Anthony being one of those lives. He was like a magnet. Drawn to her and repelled when they tried to make excuses for why it wouldn't work.
In all honesty, it took some persuasion on Anthony's end to even get Y/N to agree that they could be something more. She didn't want to hurt Mat in the slightest.
"Just come with me to the islanders Christmas party." Anthony smiled, leaning against the wall as him and Y/N were getting ready to mail some packages out at the post office. He was sending some away to his family in Montreal and Y/N was sending some to her familial over the country.
"Are you guys even allowed to have a Christmas party?" She asked, rolling her eyes. With how the year had been going, she didn't think that it was a great idea.
Shrugging slightly, Anthony nodded. "Everyone on the invite list is in our bubble so as long as no one outside of that list shows up were fine." He told her.
Furrowing her brows, Y/N suddenly became confused. "How am I in the bubble?" She asked. "I haven't been around anyone else on the team in the last two months." She explained.
Anthony smiled. "But you've been around the wags- they are in the bubble, so by extension so are you." He winked.
Sighing, Y/N realized that there was no way she was getting out of this- it wasn't like she had plans anyways. "Fine. I'll go as your date." She mumbled.
Beau's eyes lit up immediately and he felt his heart pump harshly in his chest. "You'll have a great time, I promise." He leaned in and kissed her cheek ever so slightly.
When Mat had heard the news of Beau bringing Y/N as his date, his heart cracked although he couldn't figure out why. He hadn't spoken to her much in the last year- only making pleasantries when it was necessary. Ever since he had heard about her feelings he couldn't deny that things had changed. He wanted to say that he felt the same- but if he did, it would've made things impossible. It would have turned everything upside down. So he said he didn't feel the same. That was a major fuck up on his part, because now here Y/N was standing across the room oblivious to how he really felt about her.
Her body was covered in the prettiest green dress he had ever seen and her hair was grown out, longer as it cupped her collar bones and her eyes lit up like a million stars. Her gaze was so full of wonder and passion that he thought just for a second, she felt the same about him. But she wasn't looking at him. She was looking at Anthony- the man dawned in an all black suit and green handkerchief to match her dress.
Mat hated how perfect they looked together. It was like they had been preparing for this even for years and were just waiting to make their mark as a couple. He hated it. He wanted to be her that he was holding, not some have empty glass chilled with ice.
But he had been too late. Nearly a year ago he had shattered Y/N's heart and expected for things to stay the same. He mulled in his own feelings and expected her to love him- he ruined everything last Christmas and now she had finally moved on.
He missed his chance and someone else took it.