nhl one-shots | multi

take your leave | j. neal

Summary: James doesn't always know what the lines he can't cross are, when he starts to bring the team around home too much- it causes a fight and Y/N storms out, it's only then does James realize just how much he needs her.

Requested: yes

Enough was enough.

Y/N couldn't stand it anymore, between the parties thrown every weekend and half of the oilers roster practically living in her house five days a week, she had put up with James' bullshit long enough.

When the woman started dating a hockey player, she knew exactly what she was getting into- but she never anticipated that it would have been so difficult. She could deal with the long distance and the constant travelling, but when her boyfriend was home- she just wanted some alone time with him, not him and his teammates.

Y/N understood that this house was hers and James, of course he paid for the majority of it- but what he paid in rent, she covered in groceries and internet- paying for the smaller utilities while he covered the big chunk.

She was grateful and knew that she shouldn't complain, but sometimes her emotions got the better of her.

After a long day at work, the woman had made plans to run a hot bath- throw in a bath bomb maybe and sip on a glass of wine in the candle light.

Maybe get laid too.

But when she pulled up to the driveway and saw a couple of the guys' cars, she knew that probably wouldn't be happening.

James was an amazing guy, very honest and sarcastic at times and he was funny- loyal, practically every positive trait Y/N could think of. But god- sometimes he was dense.

She had sent him a text a few hours ago, letting him know that she needed some space tonight- hoping that he would get the hint and not have anyone over.

But it seems her plan of beating around the bush didn't go to plan.

Walking in the front door, her living room couch was lined with some of edmonton's hockey team- Connor, Darnell and Leon has come over which honestly wasn't too bad.

Usually more of the team was present.

"Hey Y/N!" All the guys greeted as she walked in- her coat being laid against the rack.

James smiled and looked up, pushing himself of the couch and heading towards her- giving her a smoosh before resting his large hands at her waist.

While Y/N was happy to see that the guys had ordered dinner and left her a plate- her headache was starting to set in and she knew that the guys could get pretty rowdy when they've had a couple drinks and we're playing video games.

Judging by the two empty six packs she gave them about thirty minutes before the noise started- if she was lucky.

Following after her as she made her way into the bedroom en-suite, James furrowed his brows. "Everything okay?" He asked softly.

He could see the slump of her shoulders and remembered her text from earlier- not to mention the obvious frustration creeping along her skin.

Looking at him in the mirror, the woman sighed. "I thought I told you I didn't want any company over tonight..." she pouted.

"I really don't feel good, it's been a long day and I just wanted to have some alone time with you tonight." She told him.

Almost as if he was offended, James sighed and rubbed his face. "When you said 'I need space' I thought you meant from me." He crossed his arms. "I didn't think that you cared about me having the guys over." He huffed.

Immediately starting to backtrack- Y/N was ready to apologize, but her irritation got he best of her. "James- I don't care if you have the guys over, I'm just saying they don't need to be here every single day." She snapped.

Her tone was enough to get James to initiate an argument, he wasn't going to back down.

"This is my house- I'll have the guys over whenever I want to. If you need some space maybe you should find it." He muttered the last part under his breath.

But Y/N heard it.

Was he kidding? Was he really so eager to have her leave? "Fine." Y/N snapped, grabbing her purse and a large hoodie off the end of the bed before stomping her way through the house.

Hearing the rush of heavy footsteps, the guys in the living room paused their game and looked up, just in time to see Y/N wiping a stray tear and pushing through the front door, slamming it behind her.

James followed shortly after- coming back into the living room and collapsing into the love seat with a heavy sigh.

"Do we wanna ask what happened?" Darnell spoke hesitantly- not sure if James was in the mood to talk.

The man looked over and clenched his jaw. "Y/N's sick and she wanted to spend a night alone- I thought that meant by herself, not me and her. She wasn't exactly pleased to see that we had company." He explained partially.

Leon scratched the back of his head. "Well uh- you do kind of bring us around a lot." He admitted.

"Has she said anything about it before?" Connor asked.

James shook his head. She definitely should have said something before it got to this point- but he should have texted her earlier instead of just reading her message, and he definitely shouldn't have asked her to leave.

"I got frustrated and asked her to leave." James admitted.

The guys let out a puff of air, wincing at the man's confession.

They knew that wasn't good.

Shortly after the guys left, James was trying to think of where Y/N might have gone.

The woman wasn't answering her phone and he knew that because they were both stubborn, she probably wouldn't have made it easy for him to find her.

So he called around- he called a few of her friends, a bar they went to often and even her mom.

Eventually her friend Sam let him know that the girl was crashing on his couch for the night and that he should come by in the morning.

That was exactly what James did.

At sunrise, James was already standing outside of the apartment door, holding a bouquet of flowers and wearing his best apologetic smile.

He knocked on the door knowing that Y/N would be the one the answer- he had watched sam leave for work, just missing him and the chance to get inside.

After repeated knocking, a groan finally slipped past the lips from someone inside- footsteps rushing towards the door.

There was a pause and James assumed that y/n was looking through the peep hole.

"Y/N please just give me a chance to explain." He began- but the girl was quick to cut him off.

"Why should I? You asked me to leave so I did." She growled.

Obviously things hadn't cooled down.

Doing his best to watch his fine, James clenched the flowers in his fist. "Y/N open the door." He spoke sternly.

Then she laughed. "If you think I'm opening this door you're crazy." She was beyond upset and was not about to let him in that easily.

James sighed. As his shoulders slumped, he nodded. "Fine- I guess I'll sit here all day and all night then until you do." He crossed his arms and pressed his back to the door, sliding down before taking a seat at the base.

He sat there for what felt like hours, he could hear Y/N on the other side- watching a Netflix series that he couldn't remember the name of- then making food as the smell wafted trough the apartment building.

Finally after a few hours, the footsteps creaked towards the door again. "Are you still there?" Her voice came out softly.

James presses his head back against the door. "I'm not going anywhere..." he sighed with a content smile.

There was a click of the lock and James sprung to his feet, holding the flowers delicately as he made a quick attempt to fix his appearance.

When Y/N appeared on the other side, he felt relief wash over him in waves. At least he knew she was okay.

"You get 5 minutes." The woman told him- letting him in before closing the door and making her way to the couch.

James nodded softly- if 5 minutes was all he had, then he was going to cherish them.

"First of all, I just want to tell you how sorry I am- I was a complete idiot and I'm sorry that I hurt you..." he began.

He told her everything from how scared he was when she walked out, to how lonely it was sleeping without her, to how desperate he felt just to know that she was okay.

"I'm not losing you again Y/N... so please- tell me how to fix this..." he took her hand and looked deeply into her eyes, begging for a way out.

The woman bit her lip before giving his Palm a squeeze. "I need more alone time with you... I love the guys but they can't be at the house very day... maybe once or twice at the most- but otherwise, they should go somewhere else." She began listing her conditions.

"I need you to be more thoughtful- which I know is gonna take some time... but we need to work on our communication skills..." there weren't many more ideas after that, but James was relived.

He promised to do every single one and ask for help if he was falling behind- to be honest about everything.

When they headed home together, James didn't let go of her hand in the car the entire time- just glancing at her every couple minutes and looking at Y/N with so much love and affection that it hurt.

He almost lost her and he swore with every inch of himself, he would never do that again.