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The days that start and end with Will, fast asleep by his side in their bed are the ones that Mack treasures most.
Getting to spend quality time with the guy he's lucky enough to call his boyfriend is something that Mack will never take for granted.
He knows that he's lucky in the fact that he and Will both play for the same NHL team.
He's well aware that some guys aren't as lucky.
To the public's knowledge, William Eklund and Luke Hughes barely know the other exists.
They have no idea that the two not only know each other well, but are in a committed relationship.
Mack's pretty sure that if the general public knew exactly how many NHL players were in romantic relationships with another NHL player, they would collectively explode.
Considering how Mack and Will themselves reacted when they found out that Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin were not only dating, but married, his assumption is probably not too far off from the truth.
Still, it doesn't stop Mack from wanting to scream about his love for Will from the rooftops, and tell every person that they pass by on the streets that Will is his, and always will be, as long as Mack has any say in it.
Days off are rare enough as a hockey player.
Days off where he and Will get to just exist in each other's presence are even rarer.
Usualy, if the two of them are not playing hockey or doing off-ice training, they've got some other meeting to attend, or appearance to make.
But, on the days where their schedules are blissfully empty, he and Will spend it simply enjoying the other's presence, relishing in the warmth of their bodies intertwined with each other.
Today is one of those blissfully free days.
Mack wakes up with Will's arms wrapped snugly around his waist, enveloping him in his warm embrace.
Will is still fast asleep, and the morning sunlight is hitting his blond curls in the way that always makes them look like they're made of pure gold.
It's no secret that Mack is obsessed with Will's curls.
Mack will call Will some variation of Rapunzel when his hair looks as if it's glowing like the sun itself is coming out of his head.
When they're on plane or bus rides, Mack will often spend the whole time just playing with Will's hair, running his fingers reverently through the silky curls, or styling it to his liking.
It's become a thing for the rest of the Sharks to guess what new hairstyle Mack will give to Will during each new bus or plane ride.
It's pretty much always a form of braids or tiny pigtails, but on some rare occasions, Mack will manage to put Will's hair into a barely passable man-bun, much to his and the team's delight.
As Will sleeps, Mack plays with his hair, perfectly content to keep brushing his fingers through Will's silky blond curls, just as he always does.
Unconsciously, Will leans into Mack's touch, stirring slightly at the movement, but not waking up just yet.
For all his reputation of being a Boston boy through and through, Will looks exactly like the perfect picture of a Californian boy, from the way the sunlight bounces off his blond curls, making it look like a halo, to the way that his blue eyes shimmer when the light hits them just right, as if the ocean itself has breathed its essence into his irises, and the way his skin tans to the perfect warm golden colour after months of the San Jose sun shining its rays down on him.
Boston native or not, California boys have nothing on Will Smith.
Mack loves every single part of Will, especially the parts that only he gets to see.
Only Mack knows the way that Will tears up at the conclusions to the annoyingly comforting, predictable plots of the dumb rom-com movies he always forces them to watch.
Only Mack knows the way that Will's real laugh sounds, messy, loud, carefree, and perfectly Will.
Only Mack knows the way the warmth of Will's bare skin feels against his, familiar, comforting, grounding, and real.
Only Mack knows the way Will's lips feel against his own, passionate yet gentle, cautious and careful.
Only Mack knows that every single unguarded aspect of Will that has been handed to him like a precious, fragile gift, is Will's way of saying 'I love you'.
And that's the way he likes it.
Bedsy likes to tease him about the way he acts when Will hangs out with Gabe, or Leno, or any of his other BC friends, but for all the protests that Mack puts up, the fact is, Connor isn't too far off from the truth.
As much as he hates to say it, Mack is, admittedly, slightly possesive of Will.
Okay, maybe he's more than slightly possesive.
Like, a lot more.
In his defense, as far as he's concerned, Will is his, and his alone.
To Mack, anyone else besides Colleen, Grace, Bill, and himself is a threat to Will.
Maybe that's why Will is wearing Mack's initials around his neck on a silver chain that Mack bough him himself.
And if anyone says that half the reason Mack leaves love bites on Will is to mark him as his own, well, that's their problem.
Right now, Will's got his head in Mack's lap, and he looks so completely fucking perfect in a way that's got Mack wondering how much longer he can let Will sleep for before he can't resist him any longer.
He can feel himself growing harder the longer he stares at Will and his stupidly perfect, angelic face.
"Fuck..." he thinks to himself, trying to ignore his growing need becoming more and more visible as the seconds pass.
As if he can sense Mack's need, Will begins to stir again, this time waking up, and looking up at Mack with those sleepy blue eyes that make him weak in the knees.
What they do after that is only theirs to know.
What everyone knows is this:
Mack orbits Will like the moon orbits the Earth.
They need each other in a way that nobody else seems to fully understand, but everyone knows that they keep the other in balance.
Birds will sing, people will fight, and Mack will always love Will the way Will loves him.
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