Mat Barzal Imagines

Loyalty (Mat Barzal x Flyers Fan)

Warnings: Swearing/language, angst

Word Count: 2.4k

You woke up and reached over to the other side of the bed for your boyfriend, but you found that it was empty. You listened for the shower, but instead, you heard a loud crash coming from the main room. Mat had to have ordered his pre-game meal.

You had been dating Mat for ten months, and while you attended plenty of his games, you still had issues wearing his Islanders jersey. You were a die-hard Flyers fan, and wearing a divisional rival's jersey felt like a betrayal, so he initially gave you his Team Canada jersey to wear to his games. On your six-month anniversary, he gave you an Isles jersey with his name and number on the back and asked you to move in with him. You said yes to his proposition and wore the jersey for the first time to an Isles-Penguins game, which the Isles won in a shootout. Your choice to wear it to that specific game was not a coincidence: you (and practically every other Flyers fan) detested the Penguins.

Ever since November, you slowly but surely transitioned to wearing only his Isles jersey, and now, there was only one matchup you hadn't worn it to: an Isles-Flyers game. In March alone, there were three games against your hometown team, and the Flyers had, to put it bluntly, beaten the shit out of the Isles in the first two games. You had worn his Team Canada jersey to both of those games. You arrived in Philadelphia last night for the final game tonight against the Flyers, and you knew Mat was going to ask you to wear his jersey for good luck, but you didn't know whether you could do it. Your parents were going to be there, and they would give you shit for not supporting the Flyers in their own building. On the other hand, you felt incredibly guilty about the past two losses to the Flyers, and while he didn't say it, you knew Mat was irritated that you didn't wear his jersey to those matchups.

Sighing, you got out of the bed and went through your suitcase looking for your sweatshirt. Lou had given Mat permission to book a suite in the hotel instead of staying with the rest of the team, and you really appreciated it. Tito, his best friend and roommate on the road, didn't mind; actually, he said he was glad to not have to deal with Mat's messy habits for once. You didn't care about Mat's habits because you were the same way; your room at home was always a mess whenever you stayed there.

You found your sweatshirt and opened the door separating the bedroom from the main space. Mat was sitting on the couch drinking a protein shake, and there was a table in front of him with a BLT (your favorite) and an iced tea on it.

"Hi, sleeping beauty," Mat said while getting off the couch and walking over to the desk. "Sorry I forgot to put the chair by the table."

"It's fine, don't worry about it," you replied as he dragged the chair to the table.

"There," he said, and he wrapped his arms around you and kissed you. You leaned into the kiss, wanting to make it last.

"Sit," Mat said when he pulled away, "I ordered your favorite."

"You spoil me too much," you said, and he laughed.

"You've had a rough semester at school: you deserve it."

He wasn't lying: you were a second-semester junior, and you got stuck with undesirable classes.

"Thanks, babe." You kissed him again before sitting down, and Mat went back to his spot on the couch.

You ate your late lunch in comfortable silence while Mat finished his smoothie. When he put the glass down, though, you looked in his eyes and knew he was going to ask.