Constellations, Coffee & Chandler | q.h

twelve

chapter 12
road trip

| Quinn |

"Can you not sit like that, you're getting my car all dirty" Jake grumbles as he gets back into his seat, Chandler instead getting comfortable as she sits with her left leg pulled up on the seat with her.

Part of me was worried about going to Chandler's parent's house, with Chandler. I'd like to think I've gotten a grip on the situation, but every time I've seen Chandler over the past couple of weeks, which has been in passing when she gets home exhausted from class, I can barely manage to say anything more than an overly excited 'hi Chandler!'

Her music, which seemed to be a soft, almost breezy style of indie music, flowed throughout the car, her driving almost seeming elegant as she effortlessly drove. She was tapping her fingers on the center console in time with the music, which seemed to annoy Jake more than it should have.

The sun seemed to be an almost golden colour, despite it being hours from golden hour, the red trees looking vibrant in the light. We had made it away from the flatter landscape of Abbotsford and had started into the mountain area, weaving between the mountains and underpasses that ran through them.

The thing about the Breuns, an easy to notice fact if you pay attention to them, is that they both seem to hate talking about themselves. Carson doesn't like to accept any praise on or off the ice, and will avoid talking about his life pre-contract as much as possible. Chandler is usually the more quiet out of the two of them, which I don't know if that's because we aren't quite friends or if she's just how she is. But both don't seem enthused to talk about their family.

This wouldn't be too weird, and maybe it's not but I'm just really reading into it, but it seems like every other guy on the team happily talks about their home lives and their families. I'll happily talk about Luke's training or mom working back home; and Brock gives us weekly updates on how his dad is doing. Petey will keep us up on how his brother Emil is doing with his hockey, and Bo is always more than happy to talk about Gunnar or Holly. But the Breuns? Nothing. If I didn't know the two of them, or their birthdays, I would never know that they're related let alone twins. Which is probably why I immediately notice Chandler tense up when Elias asks how her and Jake met.

"Oh, I went to school with her older brother," Jake shrugs, as Chandler looks like she tries to relax into her chair - it doesn't work. She's still tense but turns around to smile at Petey. "My older brother Garrett, he went to Yale with Jake and Everett in high school for hockey, Carson went there too a couple of years later."

"Feel sorry for you having to know Jake for so long," I mumble out, trying to ease the mood, which seems to work as Chandler tries not to laugh while Jake reaches around his seat to try to slap me. "I didn't really have to see him much except if we came to visit, but it was nice to have someone in town when we moved here a couple of years ago."

"When did you move to Van?" Now that I've joined the conversation, and somehow managed to get Chandler's attention I couldn't stop myself, I think I said the question before I had even processed what I was thinking. "We moved two years ago when we started at UBC."

"Where did you move from?" Elias beats me to asking the question, and I have to calm myself down from glaring at him when Chandler answers, "Toronto." Wait, what? "Oh, you guys both really came across the country. That's cool though, I actually lived outside of Toronto growing up." Once again, I think the words happen before any thought does. How the hell did I not know they were from Toronto? I will absolutely be sneaking a peek at Carson's passport when we start travelling for games. But then, if they're from Toronto - "Why do your parents have a cabin out here if you guys are from Toronto?"