Acatalepsy; auston matthews

• nine •

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Jessica heard a knock on her front door. The weather had been horrible for the last couple days, so she was surprised that there was a knock on her door. She wasn't expecting anyone.

What she really wasn't expecting was a mailman, on a Sunday.

"I have a delivery for a Jessica Summers," he smiled.

"That's me," she raised an eyebrow. "You're sure? I didn't order anything."

"It was ordered early last week according to the tag here," he point out on the box. "All I need is for you to sign here," he held out an electronic machine, kind of reminded Jessica of a debit machine.

She signed and closed the door. The box was big, but only a couple inches deep. Looked like it might have a massive picture frame inside, but was far too light to be a picture frame. The tag was misprinted in French which didn't help Jessica at all.

She opened the box, worried but curious what was inside.

Then she saw the blue fabric and opened the box a little faster. Inside was a neatly folded jersey; the Leafs logo was visible as Jessica picked it up. She laughed and didn't even have to look to know who's number was on the jersey. She pulled her phone from her pocket and called Auston, knowing his flight was back from Boston by now.

"Hey," she heard him laugh. "Mitch shut up for a minute, you're always so loud," she could tell he wasn't holding his phone up because of how much quieter his voice got. "Sorry, what's up?" he mumbled.

"Did I get you at a bad time?"

"No, were all stuck at the airport right now. Flight was delayed because of the ice," Auston told her. "Mitch is just getting restless like all children do."

She heard him laugh and a loud "Hey!" from Mitch.

"I didn't realize that happened- thought you would have already landed in Toronto by now," Jessica replied. "It sucks you're still in Boston."

"We would have been back had it not been for all the freezing rain," he pointed out. "Why is Canada's weather so bad? Like it's April, shouldn't it be spring, not winter," he joked earning a laugh from Jessica.

"Well, somehow a mailman was able to deliver something today," she felt herself smiling. She set Auston on speaker as she tried on the jersey.

"Oh, what was it?" he was horrible at faking his surprised voice.

"A Winnipeg Jets jersey! Laine's name is on the back, it fits perfectly!" she beamed with excitement over the phone. Her acting was much better than Auston's.

"Winnipeg- but I ordered-" he stopped himself. "That's really cool," he tried to cover up for his slip up. "Guess you didn't have a Laine jersey yet eh?"

"Nope, I'm really loving it though," she played along with her joke a little longer.

"So did you get anything else?"

"Just this Matthews jersey, nothing to brag about," she casually replied.

She heard him laugh for a minute. "You had me going for a minute."

"I got you pretty good didn't I?" she laughed with him. "But you didn't need to get this for me Auston."

"You needed something to wear to the game tomorrow- I wasn't gonna let you wear a Jets jersey," she heard him smirk. "It's just a bonus to see you in my jersey."

She gave her head a shake and walked to the mirror she had in her bedroom, she got a good look at the jersey, enjoying the fact it wasn't too tight of a fit. "Well you picked the perfect size," she mumbled. "But you really didn't have too. How much was it? I'll write you a check and give it to you tomorrow."

"It was a gift Jess," he spoke softly. "Really, you don't need to pay me back."

She stared at the jersey a moment longer. "You're sure? Because I have no problem paying you back."

He chuckled. "I'm sure."

"Okay."

"Okay. I've gotta go, we're gonna be boarding in a minute." he spoke into the phone. She heard background noise of him moving, probably getting his bags together.

"Well I'll talk to you later," she smiled, turning around to read the name and number on the back.

"I'll see you later- after tomorrow's game maybe?" he was hopeful as he walked with Mitch through the airport.

"Maybe..." she trailed off, her face hurt from smiling so much. "I'd like that," she finished her thought.

"Bye Jess," he was smiling. She could picture him running a hand through his hair.

"Bye Auston," she hung up the phone and looked in the mirror again.

"This is what he meant the other night-" she clued into the conversation they had after game one. He asked about the mail- she had forgotten entirely.

Instead she picked up the phone and called her dad. She walked across her room to her nightstand where the two tickets were placed inside the top drawer.

"Hey, when was the last time you wore your leafs jersey somewhere?" she asked when her dad picked up.

"A while ago," he laughed. "That's a weird question Jessica, why?"

"Because I have an extra ticket to tomorrow nights game... and was wondering if you'd like to go." she offered knowing the answer.

"Jessica- is this a joke? Of course I'd like to go! How'd you get the ticket?" He asked. She could hear the genuine excitement and joy in her fathers voice.

She recounted the story of how she was offered a ticket while her father listened. She knew this meant a lot to him, it would be his first playoff game since he has never been able to afford a ticket in the past- she knew this was the best present she could ever give her dad.
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unedited and short BUT game three is right now and I want them to win so badly like please win tonight. PLAYOFF HOCKEY IS STRESSFUL AND MY TEAM ISNT EVEN IN THIS YEAR??? like the vegas game stressed me because I wanna see the Kings get swept so badly lmao 😂😂