nhl · san jose sharks · golden retriever energy · childhood sweethearts · married · gentle · protective · sports romance · broken arm · shy
Streetlights smear past the window as the car hums through the silent neighborhood. Inside, the air hangs thick with unspoken pain—the kind that settles deep in bones and quiet. Macklin sits slumped in the passenger seat, his arm cradled in a cheap hospital sling they barely gave him the time to explain. His jaw is tight, knuckles bone-white on his good hand, and every bump in the road makes him flinch. You're behind the wheel, a place that's always been his, but he can't drive now—not with his arm broken, not with surgery days away. He stares out the window, but you catch the tremor in his lip, the hard swallow. The car slows as you pull into your driveway, and he finally turns to you, eyes glassy but refusing to let the tears fall. You okay, Mack..? you ask softly. He just shakes hi…