NHL Imagines

Reunited (Elias Pettersson x Reader)

You and Elias were good friends when the two of you were younger. As kids, he played hockey with your brother so you would always see him play.

In the beginning, Elias was friends with your brother, but it didn't take long for both of you to realize that the two of you got on and had more in common than him and your brother. So, the two of you became quick friends.

And that friendship blossomed into something both of you thought was unbreakable. Best friends since kids, you knew each other better than you knew yourselves. One of the best things about your friendship was the fact that the two of you weren't inseparable. As Elias got older, hockey became more and more competitive and he spent more time away to play.

Your friendship was beautiful in the fact that you guys would go days, weeks, without seeing each other, or only see each other one a week, or once every two weeks, and the two of you could pick up exactly where you guys left off, as if there was no distance or time between the two of you.

It was perfect.

But then he was drafted. Elias was drafted and everything changed.

Elias didn't play in the NHL that year, but he might as well have because you saw him just as much as you would have if he had been in Canada.

After he was drafted, Elias spent more and more time practicing and playing. You didn't know he could spend more time with hockey, but he did. And the more time he dedicated to hockey, the less time he spent with you, and, somehow, within the short span of a year, the friendship you thought would last a lifetime, crumbled.

You didn't even know that Elias had moved to Canada to start his first season in the NHL with the Vancouver Canucks until you saw the front of your local newspaper which had a photo of your best friend—former best friend—dressed in the Vancouver blue and green celebrating his first NHL goal.

You felt happy. So happy that he was finally living his dream as an NHL player. But, at the same time, you were devastated. You had been with Elias at the 2017 entry draft, the two of you had been best friends for the majority of your lives, and he couldn't even be bothered to tell you he was moving across the globe? That he was going to play in the NHL?

You were happy and sad and angry all at the same time.

You followed Elias' NHL career from your home in Sweden. You followed him for months without so much of a text from him.

And eventually, your parents had enough, so they rented you a hotel room and bought you a plane ticket to Vancouver along with a ticket to the Canucks game. Your mother was smart to get you a seat directly behind the players' bench so that Elias had to see you.

Had to acknowledge you.

And he did.

The moment Elias came onto the bench, he faltered and you knew that he saw you.

And you had followed his NHL career, watched the replays, knew his stats. But, you didn't have to have seen them or know them to know that he was off, that he wasn't playing to the best of his ability. Everyone could tell. Sitting behind the bench, you could see the players interact, see the coach talk, and Elias was receiving a lot of attention, and not the good kind.

You felt sick to your stomach because you just knew that you were the reason Elias wasn't playing well.

And you were right.

The moment Elias saw you, he felt sick to his own stomach and he couldn't focus. All the feelings, the guilt, came rushing back, and all the guilt and regret hit him again and again every time he came off the ice and saw you.

Elias knew he had fucked up with you and he regretted it every day. But, the longer the two of you didn't talk, the harder it became to pick up the phone and send you a text. So, he didn't. instead, he moved to Canada and spent the whole plane ride thinking about the "what if"s and all the ways he could have fixed things.

Elias had spent so many nights thinking about how great it would be to see your face in the stands, how the two of you could go back to normal.

He missed you more than anything,

And now his hopes were true and you were in the stands; but, there were no happy smiles like he thought were would be, hoped there would be.

The game came to a close. The Canucks lost. Elias' teammates headed back to the locker room, but not him. He stood and looked at you though the glass behind the bench. Elias swallowed and took his glove off, pressing his hand to the glass before you.

You felt a weight leave for your shoulders and you pressed you hand to the glass too. Elias smiled at you and you gave him a shaky one in return

"[Stay there]." Elias mouthed to you and you nodded. Elias pulled his hand back and walked headed back to the locker room.

And you sat there as the arena cleaned out and your heart pounded. Elias was your person and your place of comfort. You couldn't believe there had come a time when he made you feel nervous.

Yet there you were.

Eventually, Elias came back. He stood in the tunnel and you were still sitting in your seat. The seats between you felt like oceans when it was only feet. Neither of you said anything. Neither of you knew what to say.

"[I'm sorry]." Elias whispered after a few minutes of silence.

At his words, you let go of a breath you felt you had been holding for over a year. You closed your eyes for a moment before standing from your seat and walking over to him, sitting in the seat closest to the rail.

"[I missed you]." Was the only thing you could say.

"[I am so sorry]." Elias repeated, his voice breaking.

You felt your eyes water and you shifted so that you could reach your hand through the rail to brush his hair out of his eyes. Elias flinched at your touch but quickly melted into it.

"[Don't]," you started. "[Ever do that again]." You whispered to him.

Elias shook his head "[Never again, I promise]." He whispered. "[I promise]."

You smiled sadly and knelt down in the row so that you were closer to eye level with him.

"[We can get through this. I forgive you]." You told him, your voice breaking as you forced yourself not to cry.

Elias nodded and gave you a sad smile.

You had your best friend back.