Constellations, Coffee & Chandler | q.h

one

chapter 1
the universe doesn't work like that

| Chandler |

"Bing!" my head snaps up at the voice of my brother and his team mates making their way out from the change rooms. I can feel the smile stretching across my face as Carson pulls me into his side, his long, sweat-soaked curls nearly hitting my forehead. "Thank you," Carson starts, but I pull away from the embrace before letting him finish, not entirely in the mood to be reminded that I'm still in the arena.

"Chaney, did you see my goal?!" My brother's line mate, best friend, and our roommate Everett squeals as he runs up to the two of us, taking my hand and spinning me around once he reaches us. The University of British Columbia men's hockey team just won their game against the University of Wisconsin in their first exhibition game of the year, exciting everyone for the upcoming school year.

Leaving the rink felt different today. After trying to get back for the past 3 years the thought of stepping foot on the ice still terrifies me. I don't know how Carson does it, but I'm glad that it brings him as much comfort as it does.

Carson grabs me away from Everett, placing me on the opposite side of him so he's situated between us. Carson's always hated lingering around the arena after games, there's no doubt in my head he just wants to get home.

Dragging myself through the parking lot surrounded by the boys is never an easy task, the amount of student fans, specifically the crowd of hockey-hungry puck bunnies, I mean the 'hockey-enthused girls', never fails to remind me how much I no longer belong to the hockey lifestyle outside of my connection to Carson. I always do my best to try to hide within the cluster of boys, but never fail to go unnoticed.

Doing my best to ignore the looks from the girls and the comments thrown my way by, for the most part drunk, boys I hurry beside Carson, anxiously waiting to get into his car. The crisp Vancouver air makes me want to linger outside for a couple moments longer, but the safety of Carson's back seat tempts me more.

Watching the rest of the guys disperse to their cars, while Carson and Everett throw their equipment bags into the back, I wave at the boys in the car beside us as I crawl into the back bench. The two of them heatedly talk about the game as they jump in, Carson pulling out of his parking space as Everett recalls a hit he took from one of the Wisconsin players. They never play the NCAA teams except for in pre-season, so it typically ends up a pretty heated battle.

Outside the car, the quickly turning leaves on the trees blur together as we maneuver our way off of the university campus. The sun beating down makes the air feel light, reminding me that this new semester and new school year brings new beginnings.

Carson and I moved out to Vancouver 2 years ago, as we're now entering into our third year at the University of British Columbia. The move took us halfway across the country, leaving behind our home and family for the first real-time. The university promised potential, and a pretty nice scholarship for both Carson and I, easing our decision to move out west, although we both knew given the past couple years that we had to leave the city.

"Chaney?" Everett's voice pulls me out of a trance I didn't realize I was in, as I notice the trees become more sparse and the buildings become more prominent. "hmm?" I mumble back, not having any idea of what conversation they were having previously. "Did you want to come and study with us? We'll go home first and pick up some food?" Carson asks, watching me in the rear-view mirror. "Yeah that'd be great." I smile to myself, excited for the start of our new semester, falling back into the routine of studying and hanging out with the boys. Despite having only been in classes for 1 week, I know that the stack of notes and assigned readings on my desk will thank me for it.