NHL Imagines 2 (ON HOLD)

Auston Matthews • Toronto Maple Leafs

"(Y/N), you need to come back to the locker room with me," Jon Geller caught my arm. "Auston is practically in hysterics right now,"

In a panic, I dropped everything I had to scurry back to my boyfriend. Just as I was told, Auston was almost in tears, face red and chest heaving. My legs couldn't carry me to him fast enough, arms wrapping around his larger frame as soon as I got close enough.

"I can't do it, I can't do it," he shook his head vigorously, fingers bunching the fabric of my jersey. "I'm gonna fail. I'm gonna disappoint everyone,"

"Auston, I swear you're going to be fine," I pulled away and pushed his hair back. "You made it already, baby. You did what you've been wanting to do since you were a kid. You proved all of those people wrong,"

He shifted in his skates, not making any effort to look at me. "I don't know, (Y/N). What if-"

"What are you so worried about, Aus?" I stopped him. "You went first overall. You made history at eighteen years old. There is a reason that you were picked before all of the others. You deserve to be here right now and I know you're going to kill it out there,"

Auston bit his lip. "What if I disappoint you?"

"Baby, you could never disappoint me," I laughed softly. "Your mom and dad would tell you the exact same thing. The only way you could ever let us down even slightly is by not trying whatsoever. You're going to do amazing and I'm going to be cheering you on the whole way,"

"Promise?" his wide eyes finally met mine, hands enclosing my smaller ones.

"I promise," I affirmed, pressing a quick kiss to his bitten lips, an utterly annoying habit he had formed after being drafted. "You go out there and score a goal for me, alright?"

He flicked my forehead gently and slid his gloves on, ruffling my hair afterwards. "I'll score two just for you,"

I slapped his padded thigh as he walked out to the ice along with the rest of the guys as I turned to rush to my seat before the game started.

It was heart-racing from the very beginning, Auston's first goal starting the scoring frenzy that not a single person had expected that night. Bobby Ryan scored, then Erik Karlsson. Auston's second goal came and I already had tears of joys running down my cheeks. The second period started and his third goal was scored, marking his very first hat-trick in his very first NHL game.

His mother couldn't help but join me in my emotions of pure happiness, not believing all that her son had done at his young age in such a short amount of time.

By the time the fourth goal came around, Auston seemed to get bored with his cellys. I couldn't blame him. There's only so many options for an after-goal celebration and he'd done just about all of them.

Though the game had ended up with an Ottawa overtime goal, the hype of the crowd never died, Toronto fans way too excited to let a 5-4 loss bring us down from the thrill of a historic NHL moment.

"That was probably the most Toronto Maple Leaf hockey thing I've ever seen happen," I sighed, adjusting the strap of my purse as we waited outside the locker room. "Four goals by one person and they still end up losing,"

His dad nodded in agreement. "At least the goals were by Auston. Who knows what would have happened if he wasn't with the team,"

"Speaking of the little devil," his mom walked forward and engulfed her son in a hug, his dad following close behind.

I stood a few feet away from the scene with a grin on my face, the faint feeling of intruding in a heartfelt family moment sitting in the back of my mind. It wasn't until Auston pulled me into a tight hug that I completely broke from that thought.

"I'm so proud of you," I whispered into his hoodie, connecting my hands around his back.

"I'm glad I delivered those two goals I promised," he pulled me up off my feet, my legs wrapping around his hips as I nuzzled my nose against his neck.

"The other two can be for your mom and dad," I whispered playfully, my feet touching the ground after a short kiss.

Auston's dad clapped him on the back. "I expect at least another two goals from you next game, bud,"

*********

I can't promise as frequent of updates as my last book, but I do miss writing imagines already and I just had to write one about one of my favorite rookies and his latest accomplishment!