Hughes Brothers Imagines

Hockey In New Jersey

TW: mentions kidnapping (brief, legit one sentence)

This is an imagine of a kid I'm making up who was there. Not Jack's kid, no sibling, just a kid who clicked with Jack.

Background: Liza "Liz" Johnson, 16 years old, part of the Hockey In New Jersey, big fan of the Devs, fav player is Jack (duh, like this is an imagine for him), skates alone mostly (FOR THE PLOT), has anxiety and PTSD

Liza sighed as her parents dropped her off at the familiar rink. As much as she enjoys skating around the arena, she hates doing it alone. If she had someone who would skate with her or go with her she'd love it! But no one wants to talk to her because of her disorders and that caused a real damper on her social life and confidence at a young age.

Pushing these thoughts away, she walked into the arena and put on her skates, stepping onto the ice. She skated around for a bit, practicing things like stopping at higher speeds, before hearing a few of the girls near her gasp. Looking at them, she noticed they'd turned red. Confusion took over her until she noticed none other than Jack and Luke Hughes stepping onto the ice. Like everyone else, she was shocked.

Liz noticed the younger kids skating up to their two idols with big smiles on their faces. The hockey players gave them autographs, pictures, skated around with them..Jack even judged a speed contest for a few of them! Liza watched from afar, taking pictures to send to her mom to update her.

She always sends pictures to her mom or dad so that they know where she is at all times. When she was four, her parents accidentally forgot her at a restaurant and she ended up getting taken away for two days before the cops found and arrested the perpetrator. Ever since then she sends pictures to her parents of where she is and is always anxious to meet new people. Probably why she doesn't have many friends.

"Hey kid." A voice in front of her snapped her out of her thoughts. Jack Hughes, holy shit. "What's your name? I noticed you aren't skating with the others." He pointed out.

"Uh, I'm Liza. Liza Johnson." Liza introduced with a nervous smile and playing with her fingers. "I have my reasons as to why I don't talk to them." That's all she said, knowing this guy was practically a stranger to her.

Jack nodded and smiled in understanding, not pushing her further. "Wanna come skate a bit? Just me. We can chat a bit. These kids are killing me." He joked, stirring a laugh from Liza. The two began their journey across the ice. "Who's your favourite player?" Jack asked the teenager, nudging her with his elbow.

"Honestly, you." His eyebrow rose. "Your rookie season inspired me. I've been through shit and wanted to quit, but you proved that if you put your mind to it you can overcome those obstacles." With a shrug of her shoulders, she finished explaining.

A grin grew on his face. "That's my favourite reason why that I've heard in my years in the NHL." This time it was her turn to be confused. "Most people are puck bunnies or kid hockey players." She nodded.

The two continued talking around the ice for a few minutes. Jack saw something of a younger him inside this 16-year-old girl, and it was that feeling on not being good enough. That feeling of wanting to impress but feeling as though you're failing. So he made it his own personal goal to get her away from that mindset by the end of this skating session.

Only that was interrupted by him being called over to answer a few questions about Luke and the event.

"I'll be back, yeah?" Jack reassured Liza. Although her shoulders hung and her face held a fake smile, she nodded. "I promise." He smiled, skating backwards and off to the boards.

But, of course, just as he was finishing, they were called off the ice for some sort of surprise. He tried looking for Liza throughout the crowd but failed, opting to lean against the boards beside his younger brother. Luke faced him, quickly noticing something was off in the way he was leaning.

"What's up with you?" Luke asked his older brother.

"There's a kid here, Liza, who really reminds me of my younger self back in my rookie season. I was gonna try and get her out of that mindset, since I almost quit hockey with that, but i had to do interviews and I've lost her since." Jack groaned.

Luke chuckled. "You'll find her somehow man."

Jack did find her. After the reveal of the new wall of the arena, which was an honorary tribute to the HNJ, he found her. They talked until Liza's mom got there to pick her up. By then, the girl seemed much happier and more confident once hearing from her favourite hockey player that he knows how she's feeling and that he's been in that boat too. Jack was happy knowing that he may have just helped send a new girl to the PWHL one day.

***

Can y'all tell i wanna go to bed but wanted to finish this by the way i ended it lol

I got school tomorrow but yolo ig. School and sleep are for the week

WC: 915