Hat-Trick

03

                   . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁ Auston's POV . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁

I couldn't sleep after the game that night. A bunch of the guys had gone back to Mitch's to hang out but I made an excuse and went home after dropping Y/N and the twins at their apartment. The entire ride home I could barely think straight, not only had I seen the girl I couldn't get out of my head for three years, but we had kids together the entire time and I never knew.

I stared at my phone as the blinding light read 12:00AM. I sighed as I knew I wasn't going to be sleeping anytime soon. I felt like I needed to talk to someone because laying in bed and staring at the ceiling wouldn't get me anywhere. Without thinking my thumb moved to my contacts and hit call.

"Hey Mitchie, are the guys still there?" I said quietly.

"Yea bud we're just watching tv, are you okay?" he said, I could hear the concern in his voice.

Nobody knew the entire situation but Willy had met Y/N once before, I talked about her to Mitch all the time, and some of the guys had seen pictures of her. Despite not knowing the whole story, the team was aware that something was off with me.

"Yeah i'm okay, just can't sleep and I need someone to talk to right now"

"Why don't you come over and we can all talk as a team?"

"Yea, thanks Mitch, i'll be over soon" I said hanging up.

The drive to Mitch's house wasn't too far but I found myself almost wishing it was longer. I was slowly regretting my decision to tell the team about everything that was going on, how were they even supposed to react to all this? The sweat that accumulated on my palms was making my hands slip over the steering wheel and I felt like I was sitting in a puddle by the time I pulled in the driveway.

Entering the house, the guys tried to make the atmosphere less awkward as I sat on the couch, talking about the game on tv and funny stories from the locker room, but I knew that the conversation was bound to shift and it would be intense.  I was allowed a few more minutes of normal conversation before John spoke up,

"So what's goin on Aus?" he said sympathetically.

My eyes were trained on the floor as everyone's attention was on me. I wanted the ground to swallow me whole, feeling my words stuck behind my tongue, unable to get out. I didn't know what to say or where to start, feeling the sweat returning to the surface of my skin. Before I could spiral any further, I felt Willy's hand on my shoulder as he offered me a soft smile. I let out a deep sigh before I spoke.

"When I first became a Leaf, I had met this girl. We were friends for a while but never got too serious because of my career. We hooked up once and it kinda got awkward after that, and with my career taking off we lost contact and hadn't spoken for a long time. That girl you guys saw tonight, that was her. And those twins, they're my kids" I said.

The room was silent, the team looking at me with shocked expressions. No one knew what to say and I started to realize I was making myself out to be a dick in this situation.

"I didn't know I had kids though. She wasn't able to contact me so I just found out tonight. It was the first time i've seen her in three years" I added.

Everyone continued to stare at me in shock and I felt my body sink further into the couch, trying to make myself disappear. Just when i felt myself starting to recoil further  away from the group, John stood up and walked over to me, putting his hand on my shoulder and giving me a fatherly smile,

"Congratulations Matts" he said fondly.

The atmosphere in the room became lighter after he spoke and I felt a weight shift off my back as my teammates began to smile at me.