nhl one-shots | multi

silk | c. hart

Summary: this is the softest and purest thing ever, just straight fluff about Carter and his girl

requested: yes

Do you know what its like to wake up next to someone and feel safe? To roll over underneath the covers and bump into their chest- the warmth of their skin crawling against your own slowly. In all of Y/N's life, she was sure that she would never understand what that felt like. She was a loner, she was quiet and she had a bit of an attitude. It wasn't that she meant to be cold hearted- it just came naturally to her, but underneath that cold surface, her heart was three sizes too big for her chest. It was the smallest and most purest things that made Y/N's heart beat. She couldn't help but crack a smile when passing dogs or children on the street, and she certainly couldn't help letting out a laugh whenever her friends did something stupid. But above all, Y/N couldn't pretend to be cold-hearted when she was around Carter.

They had only been dating for a year, but as soon as the goalie entered her life, Y/N's friends had seen her do a complete one-eighty. She smiled more often and she joked more openly. It was like she had fallen in love not only with the flyers cutie, but she had fallen in love with life- and the idea of life itself. She saw the blue sky more clearly than ever before and she saw her hopes and dreams become a reality instead of just a figment of her imagination. She saw everything that she had been hiding from.

"I love you, you know that?" Y/N spoke softly. Her back was pressed against the chest of her lover, his toned muscles keeping her upright as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders tightly. "I'm well aware..." Carter grinned, not even trying to hide the delight in his voice. Not that he wanted to. Y/n was his light at the end of the tunnel, and he would be dammed if he let himself ruin that.

It was no secret that the two of them were under tremendous amounts of stress, between Carter's hockey career, and Y/N's own career in her dream field, they had a lot on their plates- which is why their relationship had become so special. After working tirelessly, the last thing either of them wanted was to come home and face arguments. But that never happened between the two of them. Carter always got home before Y/N did- usually she worked the night shift which meant he had time to destress after a game by himself. And in the mornings when Y/N got back, he was already gone for morning skate- meaning that she could have time to unwind and get some rest. But when the two of them were off in the afternoons, that was when their relationship really came alive.

Whether it was going out to lunch or spending the day in the bubble bath, Y/N and Carter always made time for one another. They didn't have to go out to elaborate events in order to be close. All they needed was some time and space to hold one another.

That didn't mean that they never wondered if they needed more. Carter eventually wanted to have a family, he wanted to have a life where he could come home at the end of the day and see a beautiful wife with their beautiful kids and maybe even a dog. He wanted to be able to run around the yard with his son and throw the football- to teach him how to skate and to shoot a puck. He wanted to be a father.

Y/N wasn't sure if she wanted to be a mother, she knew she wanted a family, but she was content with the way things were for the time being. In the future she knew Carter would ask for more, and while it wasn't her first idea, if Carter wanted to have kids, Y/N could certainly be persuaded. But for now, the two of them were perfectly content to live in their apartment, comforted by the silence and the space and the reminder that they were in the perfect place and that their relationship was meant to be.

There was so much love in Y/N's heart that she truly couldn't understand how people still thought she was mean and isolated. Sure she wasn't the warmest person around people she didn't know, but with the way she acted to Carter and her friends- the fact that some people thought she was intimidating was beyond her.

She had made an effort to start changing the way that people perceived her. She smiled and waved to people at work, she held the door open for people, which she should have been doing before but honestly it slipped her mind. But beyond the simple actions, Y/N tried to start listening more, she wanted to remember what people's favourite foods were and what their pet peeves were. She wanted to make people feel like they were being heard and seen and that Y/N really did care about them, because in all honesty- she did and she wanted them to care about her too.

"Did I tell you that I bought my co-worker lunch today?" She asked Carted softly, laying her head against his bicep and playing with the hair on his arm. She could feel him smiling against the top of her head, his jaw tightening as his lips stretched into a precious grin.

"You did- I'm proud of you baby." He reassured her, his arms stroking her back as he held her close. When he had first started going out with Y/N he couldn't imagine that people thought she was mean and scary- that wasn't who she was at all when he was around. In all honestly, it did make him think that she had potentially been putting on a facade when she was with him, but over time Carter saw the real Y/N, the one that laughed at butterflies when they landed on flowers, the one that couldn't help but drag him into a pet store every time they passed one. The one that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.

It didn't sound too bad in all honest, having Y/N wear a diamond ring and carry his last name. Y/N Hart- he liked the ring of it, he could certainly say it for the rest of his life. He just hoped that Y/N could too.

He didn't know when he would propose, but he knew that when the time came, Y/N would make a beautiful bride.