Bumps and Bruises

To say Sophia was upset was putting it lightly.

In the 2 years they had been together, she could count on one hand the number of times she had seen him drop the gloves during a game. After one fight left him with a nasty black eye, she couldn't help but shoot a glare at him later that night as he wrestled with an icepack.

"Don't give me that look Soph, he was getting on my nerves. He had it coming." Auston told her as they sat on the couch.

"So did your eye apparently." she frowned at him, reaching over to take the ice pack from his hand and press it to the bruise.

He rolled his uncovered eye at her and took over holding the ice pack to his face. "Look, I hate fighting, but sometimes guys have a way of getting under your skin. I had to knock out that jerk off, he wouldn't shut the hell up."

Sophia sighed and picked up his free hand, observing a few small bruises that were forming on his knuckles.

"I hate seeing you fight though, it's not you. You're not someone that drops the gloves, you silence the haters with your talent." She told him, and he laughed. She rolled her eyes, and continued.
"I know it sounds like I'm overreacting but seeing you in bruises is not the most comforting sight in the world. Plus I don't wanna see something worse happen to you. Just...promise me you'll only fight if the guy is being an absolute dickhead and he totally deserves it."

Auston smiled and squeezed her hand. "I promise babe. Only dickheads."

But that fight was nothing compared to what she saw tonight.

The Toronto Maple Leafs were in a tough battle versus the Montreal Canadiens. A few back and forth goals between each team left the score at 3-2 in favor of the Habs. The Leafs were battling hard, but a few calls and penalties didn't go in their favor, and the frustration was evident. Sophia was nervously watching the game at home. She knew how much Auston and the team wanted this win, especially against a team like Montreal.

With 5 minutes left in the 3rd, the score was still 3-2. Sophia reached over to grab her phone as it buzzed, keeping an ear tuned to the game as she answered a text.

"The puck is sent up towards Anderson, and he skates out to corral it back towards Reilly... looks like there's a fight breaking out near the neutral zone... and it's Matthews and Shaw getting ready for a rumble!!"

Sophia's eyes shot up to the TV to see Auston drop his helmet and gloves and begin to throw fierce punches at the Montreal player. Shaw kept up with Auston, connecting a few punches to his temple and jaw, but there was savage look in Auston's eye, and she could see he was a man on a mission to defeat his opponent.

As the two of them fell to the ice, Sophia's heart dropped as she watched Auston jump on Shaw and throw some nasty punches before the refs yanked him off and pushed him towards the bench and he was forced back into the dressing room. The camera panned back to Shaw as he was being pushed to the dressing room as well, and the blood on his nose was a clear sign that Auston had done some damage.

The game winded down and the win ended up staying in Montreal's favor. Sophia grabbed her phone and texted Mitch, knowing that Auston wouldn't even bother with his phone. She was upset, but wanted to calm the anxiety that was gnawing at her.

Is he okay? she texted his teammate. Ten minutes later, Mitch responded.

He's okay, bruises more than anything. Ugly black eye but nothing major

Sophia sighed. 'That's good news I guess." She thought. She pulled herself up from the couch and made her way into the bedroom to change. After changing into her PJs and wiping off her makeup, she turned on the TV and sat in bed, making the decision to wait up for Auston.

'Okay Soph, I know you're upset but when he comes home, you're gonna sit down and talk about it like rational adults. Don't scold him, you're not his mom.' She thought to herself.

She realized she had dozed off, cause an hour later she was woken up to the sound of something loud clattering to the tile, followed by a muttered 'fuck.' Sophia pulled herself out of bed and walked to the bathroom to see Auston kneeling down to grab the supplies he had dropped from the first aid kit, which sat open on the bathroom counter.

"Babe" she called out to him, and when he looked up at her, her heart sank.

Mitch wasn't joking about the ugly black eye, that was already beginning to take color under his right eye. A giant purple bruise was forming on his temple, and Sophia didn't miss the white bandage wrapped around the knuckles on his left hand.

He picked up the supplies he had dropped and stood up again. "Sorry if I woke you...just wanna clean up my hand a bit." he told her.

"Sit down, I'll help you." she said to him, and reached over to start grabbing a few things from the first aid kit.

"Soph I-" Auston began to object, but she shot him a look that he knew better than to argue with. So he sat on the edge of the tub and held his hand up to her as she unwrapped the bandage from his hand. It wasn't anything horrible, just a cut along the knuckles of his middle and ring finger. Sophia worked quietly, wetting a towel to wipe off the dried blood and grabbing the antibiotic cream to rub over it.

The silence was thick in the air until Auston quietly spoke up. "I think I caught his visor a few times before he took his helmet off." he said, referring to the cut. Sophia didn't say anything, she just nodded and continued to clean it up. As she reached for a fresh bandage to put over the cut, Auston looked up and asked.

"Are you gonna say anything?"

She shifted her gaze from his hand to meet his eyes. "What do you want me to say? she replied quietly.

"Babe I had no choice, he was in my ear the whole game and-" Auston began, but Sophia interrupted him.

"I don't care Auston! This wasn't just any fight, you looked like you were gonna murder him!" She exclaimed, the frustration evident in her voice. "I'm pretty sure I saw him trying to take cover at one point as you were pummeling away at him. I get that you were frustrated and it was a rivalry game and all that other stuff, but that was not you out there. What could he have possibly done for you to go after him like that?"

Instead of responding, Auston kept quiet. He stood up and moved around her, walking out of the bathroom and back into the bedroom to change out of his suit. Sophia sighed and turned to clean up the first aid kit and put it away.

There goes the rational adult discussion. She thought to herself.

After putting the first aid kit away and throwing away the used supplies, she walked out of the bathroom to see Auston sitting on the edge of the front of the bed in a pair of pajama bottoms.

"Are you gonna answer my question?" she asked him. He didn't respond, and instead just kept his eyes trained on the floor. Sophia rolled her eyes and walked toward her side of the bed.

"Real mature Auston."

She plugged her phone into charge and got into her side of the bed. Instead of laying down, she sat up against the headboard and stared at his back. A good moment of silence passed until she tried again.

"Aus?" she spoke quietly.

"He was talking about you."

Sophia's brow furrowed. "What?"

Auston turned to face her, and she could see the anger in his eyes.

"He started off telling me how much I suck and how Babs should send me to the minors because I don't deserve to be in the league. That was shit I've heard before so I ignored him and kept doing my thing, but he kept going on and on about how I suck, how the team sucks, and how we would never get close to winning the cup. He started getting on my nerves but by the third period, he started making nasty comments about you and I couldn't take it anymore."

"Babe come on.." Sophia began but Auston shook his head.

"He started going off about 'how could an ugly bastard like me score someone like you?' He kept saying there's no way I'm satisfying you right, and he planned on swooping you out from under me to show you what a real man is like and... I just fucking snapped Soph. I couldn't take it." He told her. She watched him carefully as he scooted backwards up on the bed until he sat next to her against the headboard. He grabbed her hand in his and laced their fingers together before he continued.

"I'll take the bullshit about my skills, the team, and all of that. It's a part of the game and it's what guys do to each other. But I'll be damned if I let anyone say a fucking word against you, do you understand me? You mean the world to me Soph, and I'll do whatever it takes to defend you."

Sophia sat quietly for a moment and stared at their intertwined hands before she looked up at him and said, "Thank you for saying that."

Auston squeezed her hand, ignoring the pain coming from his cut. "I mean every word. You're one of the most amazing people I know and you deserve everything and more. I love you babe."

She smiled at him and said, "I love you more."

He leaned over and pressed a sweet kiss to her forehead. Sophia smiled and rested her head on his shoulder and pulled their intertwined hands into her lap. She used her free hand to trace over the bandage on his hand and they sat silently for a few minutes.

...Until she jokingly asked, "I bet your face feels like a hundred bucks huh?"

Auston chuckled and she pulled her head up from his shoulder to grin at him.

"Probably better than his nose feels." he replied. "I was kinda punching blindly, didn't realize I was connecting with his nose that much."

"Mhmm sure you didn't" Sophia joked, and Auston rolled his eyes but smiled.

"Very funny babe. He totally deserved it." he told her

"Absolute dickhead huh?" She asked and he smirked.

"You already know."