Work Text:
GARRETT
This day ended not at all how I’d planned it.
Not that I’m complaining, because as I turn the seat heater on, I’m acutely aware of how drastically the brunette undoing her boots in my passenger seat is doing things to me.
“Wellsy, if you take your boots off you’re not going to put them back on once we get to the house and you have to walk inside.”
I’m smiling as I say it, because I already know what she’s going to say, and if I’m being honest with myself - I’m so far gone for this woman that I’m going to do exactly what she wants.
“I’ve seen what you bench, Graham. I’m more than confident in your abilities.”
I turn my head to face her and find her grinning from ear to ear, the shoes already tossed into the back of my Jeep. A sheepish smile on her face, a small reddish tint to her cheeks. That blush makes my heart and stomach do these butterfly type feelings. Hannah had a few drinks tonight and I know she’s not drunk, she’s right on the edge of what I’d say is tipsy. The alcohol and adrenaline rush from her performance have given her an extra boost in her confidence and I am reeling in the sheer delight of how happy Hannah looks and actually is tonight. And yeah, me probably all but begging for her to take me back probably has something to do with it.
She catches a glimpse of me staring at her and licks her bottom lip while she’s intently staring at my mouth. She’s just as ready to be alone and locked in a room as I am.
“You’re going to need a ride then?” I shift the car into drive, and place my hand on her thigh giving it a light squeeze.
“Yup.” She responds with enough nuance and sass the P pops, and I let out a laugh.
Since leaving Malones tonight, the mood has been light and playful. I know we need to talk, or there are at least things I want to say to her that I need her to hear, but now’s not the time.
There will be time for that later. Tomorrow morning, tomorrow evening, just tomorrow.
I’ve been fighting a boner since Allie walked up to us basically making out at the booth in Malone’s. I want to slide that silver dress off her incredible body and bury myself inside her. I’ve had a hand on Hannah all night - holding her to my side while sitting at the booth, my hand around her waist while we said goodbye to our friends, and my hand in hers as we walked the two blocks from the bar to my vehicle. I’ve barely let her out of my orbit tonight and if the last two weeks without her have taught me anything, I’m never letting Hannah Wells get away from me again.
The gentle reverb of the engine fills the cab while her hand draws circles on my hand. The silence doesn’t feel heavy or ladened with the events from tonight. It’s just me and my girl.
A few minutes pass, and I revel in the knowledge that somehow I’m lucky enough the woman beside me was willing to give me another shot.
I don’t know what the fuck a yellow haze is supposed to be, but I do now that Hannah Wells is the opposite of a haze. She’s the sun that brightens my world and makes everything more infinitely clear.
“So… that seemed really unlike Dean.”
I turn onto the road the house is on and let out a sigh. Truth is, I’m not sure of what exactly happened with Dean and Hunter Davenport.
“I don’t know much, honestly. Dean knows Hunter from back in New York. He went to school with Dean's little sister, Summer. Something obviously happened.”
“Between Hunter and Summer you mean?”
“A guy doesn’t react like that over nothing, Wellsy.”
The words are out of my mouth faster than I realize and the light mood I had been in suddenly feels like all the oxygen is being sucked from my lungs.
“I know,” she says, giving my hand a squeeze. “It’s okay, Garrett. We’ll talk about it later. I’m not going anywhere.”
As I pull up to our off campus house, I shift the Jeep into park and let the weight of the last week settle back onto my shoulders.
My hand is still on her thigh, and the aimless circles she was drawing come to a slow stop. I’m staring straight ahead, almost paralyzed. I made a mistake, I know what I did was wrong, but there’s also that small part of me that was true when I told her - I would do it again. I’d do it to anyone who hurt her in any way like that. Does that make me like my dad? In some ways, I can finally say I understand what Kierkegaard and some of those other philosophers meant when two things can be true at the same time. I was so in my head after the fight and seeing my dad, and Hannah had been fighting her own demons from her past - we both said things we didn’t mean, yet there was some truth to what we both were feeling at the time.
Logan and Hannah both tell me I am vehemently not like my father and I believe them, but deep down there’s also that part of me where I’d do anything and everything to protect Hannah and keep her safe. Accepting that fact and navigating it has been a whirlwind of emotional whiplash. I’d spent years suppressing the trauma from the abuse my father put me through, and when faced with a moment that reminded me all too much of how my mother looked at my father, I knew I’d never be able to live with myself if Hannah looked at me like that.
Sure, I’d overreacted, I can say that now, but that day Delaney and I were on the ice, I’d never felt rage like that, and that sheer amount of will and power I’d go to exert on Hannah’s behalf, was groundbreaking. Fundamentally, it shifted my worldview into a way that was somehow so clear that I couldn’t picture anything different.
Hannah Wells. She’s it for me. I’ve subconsciously known that she was the one for me since that night I watched her sing drunk karaoke at Malone’s, but now, Hannah Wells is engrained into me in a way I’m not sure I know how to explain. I want to marry that woman, win a Stanley Cup and rush over to her after the game winning goal, maybe even have a family if she’s down for that.
Her fingers intertwine with mine, and I feel her reach across the center console, using her other hand to pull my attention to her.
Suddenly it feels like Thanksgiving all over again - my deepest, darkest secrets coming to light as we sit in my car. She didn’t run from me then, and I know she’s not going to now.
“Hey, Garrett. Look at me.”
I turn my gaze up and lock eyes with her. They’re blue and clear as ever. She pushes a lock of my hair back and then she pulls her face inches away from mine and says exactly what I need to hear.
“I love you.”
It’s the simplest three words she could say to me, but they also mean everything. And after everything I put her - put us through - the last two weeks, it’s everything. I had so abruptly made a decision about the two of us, not wanting to become like my father, that I had accepted I’d never hear those words come from her mouth ever again.
She kisses the corner of my mouth and leans back into the passenger seat.
“We can talk about it at some point, but I’ll say one thing right now: let’s not let our pasts keep us from living our future, okay?”
My god, how in the world did I ever think letting this woman be my tutor would ever be enough? She’s the air in my lungs, she’s the sun I want to orbit around - she’s simply everything.
I nod, releasing my hand from hers and cupping her face between my large palms.
“Wellsy.” I breathe as I pull her lips to mine. She laughs, welcoming the kiss. Her tongue dives into my mouth and as she lets out a moan, I feel the bulge in my pants growing by the second.
I kiss her like my life depends on it, and once we’re both heaving for air, I whisper into the crook of her neck, “I love you, too.”
I feel her body shiver against mine as she lets out the cutest little whimper. And just as bold as ever when she’s with me, her hand reaches right for the hardness that’s no longer subtle.
“I’m glad I still do that to you.”
“Baby, it’s that dress tonight, I swear to god. I wanted to pin you down and take it off you in the Photo Booth at Malone’s, but trust me, you do it for me. Every time, Wellsy.”
“Are we going to do something about that issue then, or?” She gives my shaft a nice little squeeze and it takes everything in me to keep it together.
“Stay right where you are.” I nearly growl at her. Hastily, I unfasten my seatbelt and run around the car opening her door. Instinctively I reach in, and haul her to my chest.
“I can walk up to the house, my feet may freeze but that’s a future Hannah problem.”
I slam the car door shut, unsure if I even lock it, and I’m nearly running up the front porch and the stairs to my room.
Alone. I need to be alone with Hannah. My friends are smart, they know to leave me alone for the night now that I just got her back. The house is eerily quiet as I round the top of the stairs with Hannah in my arms, giggling into my chest.
Placing a kiss to the top of her head, I open my door and kick it shut and close my eyes taking it all in. The last two weeks have been hell. I haven’t had Hannah, it’s been meetings with the NCAA and Jensen, and so many sleepless nights in this bed. Yet somehow, she’s back in my arms, my time on the ice is coming. I feel Hannah’s hands cusp my face as she places a kiss to the bottom of my jaw.
“Alright Graham, it’s been a week and your girl has some needs that need to be taken care of.”
I stand her on her two feet, push the jacket off her shoulders and reach for the zipper on her back.
“I’ve got you, Wellsy.” I whisper in her ear as the silver dress falls from her frame.
“I’m sure you do, Graham.” She takes a few small tentative steps backwards towards the bed as she shimmies out of her panties.
Today didn’t end up how I thought it was going to, but somehow it only ended up so much better.