author’s note: just like all my other fics, we are existing in an alternate plane where tito was never traded. also i’ve never worked for the nhl, so i have no idea how accurate being a photographer is but guess what. idgaf. also sorry for the amount of italics in this fic, i have no self control apparently. and shoutout to my new friend @dani746 for helping me with this monstrosity.
summary: you’ve been in love with mat barzal for as long as you can remember, so what do you do when he asks for your help to win over your friend?
pairing: mat barzal x islanders photographer!reader
despite working for the isles for two years now, you still got nervous walking into work.
you weren’t a stranger to the team, some of them you knew quite well. anders and marty being two players you were friendly with (mainly due to the fact that you were somewhat friendly with their wives). but there was always one player who eluded you, who you’d only ever had professional interactions with.
I watch the two players through my phone screen, their polished shoes carrying them past me. My finger turns off the recording and I watch as it replays the scene.
“How’d it turn out, Y/N?” Nils asks, briefly stopping next to me to watch the video.
“Probably the same as every other video that she takes of us,” Elias mutters.
You swore you closed the door inaudibly. You take a breath and rest your forehead against the cool door. You could hear the TV playing some sort of football game, probably college because it was Brock’s turn to choose.
“Y/N?” Brock calls down the hallway and you release the breath you were holding in. “You’re home early.”
Fucking eagle-eared Brock, you think, cursing him out as you slip your heels off and drape your coat on it’s hook. Your purse is placed lazily on the table you’d bought the moment Brock agreed to be your roommate.
“Yeah, it’s me,” you reply, using all the will power in your body to not let the disappointment of the evening seep through your normally chipper tone.
You hear another voice cheer as the TV crowd also roars and your heart drops even more knowing that the group of young hockey players you call friends are still presently watching football on your comfy L-couch.
A/N: I have absolutely NO idea where this came from and I know nobody asked for it but here it is xD number two of the story winners :) depending on how this story goes I might reopen the Criminal Minds fandom :D and I also want to thank @mycobrakai1972 so much for your help, love :)
Warnings: Spencer being an asshole (so he may be a bit OOC and it’s just in the beginning, but he apologizes :D) the reader stutters when she’s nervous and I think that’s it but always please let me know if I missed anything!
Disclaimer: I don’t own Criminal Minds :D gif isn’t mine :)
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Absolutely
This is the story of a girl Who cried a river and drowned the whole world And while she looks so sad in photographs I absolutely love her… when she smiles
“Good morning, Spencer” you smiled when he walked inside the break room.
“Morning” he replied, grumpily, making his way over to the coffee maker.
“Are you okay?” you asked, worried. It wasn’t like Spencer to come in late. And you knew that if he was late, most likely he hadn’t had breakfast. And you knew that if he hadn’t had breakfast, it meant he had a headache.
“Yeah, I just have a headache” he confirmed your suspicion, pouring his coffee with sugar.
“Um… maybe you should eat something instead?” you suggested, knowing by experience that coffee would only make the headache worse and wondering if this was something that he should know, being a genius and all, or he simply didn’t care. “I brought some banana muffins if you’d like one” you offered, grabbing the plate of muffins.
“I’m not hungry, thanks” he muttered, ignoring the grumble on his stomach. He loved your banana muffins.
“Oh, okay” you said, making Spencer feel slightly bad when your smile dropped. He had never declined one from you. “I also have some aspirin on my desk if you need-”
“I’m fine” he smiled firmly at you.
“Um, wait” you said before he could leave. You felt a little bad when you heard him sigh frustrated, but you still tried to smile at him. “Sorry, um… would you mind getting my mug down for me? Please?” you asked, pointing at the top shelf where he saw your mug. Spencer didn’t say anything, but he placed his mug on the counter before he reached for yours and handed it to you.
“Why do you always put it on the top shelf?” he asked annoyed, not really waiting for a response as he left the room before you could even tell him it wasn’t you who put it there or before you could even thank him.
the truly wonderful thing about never have i ever is how all the characters are so relatable. like, i can relate to every single character about different things: i relate to devi’s grief journey and overall messiness, to fabiola’s struggle with her sexuality in s1, to eleanor’s mommy issues, to ben’s lack of social skills and abandonment issues, to paxton’s struggle with his identity, to aneesa’s frustration when her boyfriend just doesn’t get her, to trent’s fear of losing someone close to him because of circumstance. i see parts of myself in all of these characters. none of them are one-dimensional. it’s so refreshing. i’m so glad that teens nowadays get to have this show. as someone in their early twenties, it is so healing for my inner teen.
