June, 1994

"Is everything okay?"

Julie jumped, startled by the sudden interruption.

She had been sitting alone on the pier, lost in thought. Thinking about the fact that back in Maine, her parents were having their annual First Day of Summer party. She could almost hear the sizzle of hamburgers on the grill and her brothers laughing with their friends, the scent of pine trees and tanning oil and charcoal all wafting through the air.

"Oh gosh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you! I'll leave you alone." A soft spoken boy apologized, turning back around to walk towards the shore, his shoulders slumped.

Adam?

"Hey, come back here! You don't have to leave, you just startled me."

Suddenly, her preppy teammate perked right back up and rejoined her, sitting down beside her on the weathered bench, his long legs sprawled awkwardly out in front of him.

"What's up?"

"Oh uh, nothing. Sorry, you just looked kind of lonely out here, so I thought I'd make sure everything was okay. I shouldn't have, though. I didn't mean to disrupt whatever you were doing."

"Quit being silly!" She smiled, placing a delicate hand on his toned, sunkissed arm. "You didn't disrupt anything. I was just sitting out here watching the waves."

"Okay. Well, if you want to watch the waves alone, I understand."

"I'd rather watch them with you."

"Oh, alright then. Thanks."

"So…is everything alright?" He finally asked a moment later, the sound of the water lapping against the shoreline in the background.

Looking over at the gifted forward, she suddenly noticed how blue his eyes were.

Before, she'd always been too busy trying to block his shots to pay any attention to him, but now that he was right there next to her, she noticed that his eyes perfectly matched the ocean below, right down to their sparkle that mirrored the sun's reflection.

"Oh yeah, I was just thinking about home. I think this is the longest I've ever been away from my parents, and I'm almost starting to miss them."

"Well," He gently chuckled. "If you get to missing them too much, you can always borrow my dad! Because as much as I wish he'd give me a chance to miss him, he totally insisted on coming."

"Oh man…"

"Yeah, if you want the full dad experience, he's here and ready to help. I'm sure he'd be happy to tell you all about his glory days and how he used to score 7,000 goals a game. Pretty impressive for an overweight chain smoker, if you really stop to think about it."

"Definitely. With a dad that talented, no wonder you're so good!"

For another hour, the two sat against the weathered bench together, watching the seagulls dive down to the water below.

Having grown up with three brothers, Julie was used to boys—they'd filled every moment of her life since birth, always there to share unwanted fart jokes and wrestle one another over the last slice of pizza.

This one, though, was different.

"Jules?"

His soft voice cutting through buzz of the airport terminal, it seemed as if the outside world faded away, the throngs of cranky families and weary business travelers all disappearing from mind.

.

The severe suits and cold expressions that had been immortalized in the Times and Wall Street Journal were nowhere to be found, replaced instead with the loyal preppy of her happier memories. Standing there in a blue tattersall shirt and light summery chinos, it was clear that the man standing in front of her was him. Wonderfully, fabulously, him.

There were a few more lines around his lovely baby blues than there had been at his wedding fifteen years prior, and the first strands of grey were starting to show in his sandy hair. The pale scar across his cheek from a fight his senior year had now been joined by an extra bump in his nose, and after almost two decades, it still seemed profoundly unfair that the guy who once brought such power and precision to the ice now struggled with a cane.

Still, from the smile that consumed his entire face down to the engraved signet ring and salt stained driving loafers, he was the same boy she remembered. The same sweet prom king with whom she'd slow danced to Green Day's Time of Your Life so many years before.

Standing there, she struggled for words as she took it all in, her mind trying to grasp that he was back; her prep school prom king was right there beside her, in all of his delightful glory.

May, 2000

Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road
Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go

The air in the ballroom of the country club smelled of the end of an era-Acqua di Gio, Clinique Happy, and contraband Zima all mixed together, giving the room a distinctly 90's fragrance that everybody still took for granted. Outside, the parking lot was filled with rented limousines and borrowed BMWs, while inside, the dance floor was packed with boys in rented satin bow ties and girls in glittery Jessica McClintock dresses, all doing their best to tie up the loose ends of the last four years.

There, in the middle of the dance floor, a spotlight shone on the newly crowned prom king as he held his beloved date in his arms, their bodies slowly swaying back and forth in perfect harmony to the ubiquitous Green Day song.

So make the best of this test, and don't ask why
It's not a question, but a lesson learned in time

"I can't believe this is going to be over in two more weeks." Julie said softly, her face buried against the shoulder of Adam's expensive tuxedo jacket as they slowly danced back and forth, her body temporarily one with his as the song played on.

"It doesn't have to be."

His voice was tinged with sadness as he pulled her in even closer.

She was close enough to feel all of the familiar contours of his hockey toned body—a body that she knew very well after four years. Wrapped in the safe confines of his arms, she briefly wondered if she was making the right choice.

She loved him. She wanted so badly to be with him. There was a piece of her that wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of her life with him.

There was a bigger piece of her, however, that wanted Dartmouth. That wanted medical school. That wanted a chance to follow her own dreams. That wanted something bigger than being a NHL wife with a big house and four impeccably dressed kids.

Their dreams weren't compatible, and she knew it.

"It does."

She struggled to hold back tears as he gently lifted her chin with his finger to bring her soft lips to his. She looked up into his watery blue eyes, and then up at the cheap plastic crown atop his head. She knew she was hurting him on what was supposed to be his special night, and it took all of the self-control she had not to scream "Forget Dartmouth! Forget medical school! Of course I want to marry you, Adam Wailes Talbott Banks! Lets leave right now and catch the first flight to Vegas before we can have second thoughts!"

But she didn't.

So take the photographs, and still-frames in your mind
Hang it on the shelf of good health and good time

"Well then" he whispered, his arms wrapped around the waist of her sparkly light blue dress, "we might as well make the most of the time we do have."

It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's right
I hope you had the time of your life

"You know," Julie finally blurted out, looking down at the cane and slight limp with sympathy, "you did not have to walk all this way!"

Really mouth? That's what you decide to go with?

No sooner had the words left her mouth, she found herself wishing that the earth would swallow her whole, allowing her to escape the faux pas.

After all, she was quite certain that was not the way to greet one's long lost best friend…especially not when said best friend was grown man, surely capable of figuring out for himself whether or not he was up to walking across an airport.

Still, her heart ached as she thought about how difficult it must have been, and hiding her concern wasn't a skill that came naturally.

"Don't worry!" He laughed, his twinkly blue eyes crinkling up in the corners. Transferring his cane over to his other hand, he wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her in tightly. "I'm still as tough as I ever was. That toughness just takes on way lamer and less impressive forms now!"

"Literally?"

"What?

"Ohhh" He shook his head, trying to contain a chuckle, "that's just brutal. I hope you're nicer to your patients than you are to me.

"Besides" he added, still holding her close, "there's nothing that would make me miss out on an extra few minutes with you!"

What had once been hard, lean muscle was softer now, and there was only one arm around her this time. In the ways that mattered, though, not a thing had changed. He still smelled like soap and good cologne. He still made her feel like she was the only girl on the planet, and like everything would always somehow end in a happily ever after. Held close against his beating heart, the world still felt like a safe and wonderful place, the normal concerns of daily life nowhere to be found.

"And you promise you'll be alright?"

"Promise."

"Okay, good, because I'm pretty excited about the extra few minutes with you, too."

.

Slowly making their way through the airport, Julie couldn't help but find herself admiring how handsome he really was. Though he looked every minute of his 37 years, he'd developed the patina of a life surprisingly well lived, the decades of lake weekends and questionable mishaps past only giving his chiseled features more character. Combined with his impeccably tailored clothes and adorable smile, she found herself faced with a deadly combination: A preppy who knew about more than just tying Windsor knots and which fork to use.

All the while, they found themselves catching up on the basics: That Mr. Gaffney had finally retired after more than forty years of designing highway intersections, that Julie's youngest brother had come out as gay, and that Adam had found a part-time job at a hedge fund. In the back of her mind, the deeper questions still gnawed at her, the fact not escaping her that 90% of their small talk had centered around her life and her family.

Then again, there are some things you don't talk about in the middle of an airport.

Trying to ease into something slightly more substantive, she decided to bring up one of the safer questions about the Banks family: Scott.

"So speaking of brothers, how is your extremely not-gay brother doing?"

"Extremely not-gay." Adam replied, a hint of pink travelling to his cheeks. "Apparently he's got his first great grandchild on the way."

How exactly does one family go so far off the rails?

"Wow. Uh, good for him?"

"I know, right? I'm kind of hoping he gets to live to see like, his great great great grandchildren. Which, if he can make it to a semi-average life expectancy, will probably actually happen…"

In her head, Julie starting calculating the math.

37+7=46÷3

"Okay, then this begs the question." She smiled mischievously, thinking back to a discussion they'd had one night junior year. "Did he end up coming in over or under on the grandpa bet?"

"Under. Twenty nine."

"What?"

"Yeah. Pay up, Dr. Kitty. You owe me $10 and a can of Mountain Dew."

"I thought we'd agreed on $5?"

"We'd agreed on $5, a can of Mountain Dew, and a blowjob." He pointed out, his cheeks now going from pink to bright magenta. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm good with our original agreement if you are, but I figured you might want to alter the terms…"

"So what? Now you're saying my blowjobs are only worth $5?" Julie asked, giving him a light punch in the arm.

Noticing the devilish gleam in his eye, she found herself bracing for the worst as a smile overtook his face.

"This woman likes to beat up the disabled!" Adam announced loudly enough to make curious passersby to turn and look.

Dragging his foot for extra effect, he motioned towards her as he continued his theatric quest to embarrass a certain goalie. "She gets angry and she beats me!"

"I hate you."

"She likes to say hurtful things, too! She tells me she hates me and that this is why God crippled me!"

"Oh my God.

Doubled over with laughter, Julie struggled to get a word in as strangers stared at the two of them. "Are you this horrible to Laura?"

"Me? Horrible?" He shrugged innocently. "Never."

"Why do I suspect she would say otherwise?"

"Why do I suspect you're right?"

.

Going back to quieter discussions, the two continued to make their way through the airport, a certain piece of Julie enjoying the slower pace of walking with him. Those small, deliberate steps meant more time alone together. More time to notice the hint of peppermint on his breath, and the delightful crinkles around his eyes when he'd smile. As they walked, Julie found herself drawn closer and closer, her hand brushing against his several times as she filled him in on her brother's new baby and her mom's idiotic Pinterest projects. All the while, she found herself pondering whether it was really appropriate to complain about her mom's quirks in light of his family situation.

Poor guy.

.

Half an hour later, the two were finally back out in the parking lot, the evening sun casting both in a warm glow. Approaching his silver Audi SUV, Adam pressed a button to open the back hatch, the tailgate lifting automatically.

"Need any help with your bag?"

"I've got it. Thanks."

"Okay, good." He smiled. "Because if you can't get it, I probably can't, either."

As he limped towards the passenger door, Julie couldn't help but notice the sadness seeping through in his last words.

The irony of his fate didn't escape her; that for someone who'd wanted more than anything to be perfect, he'd been doomed to a life of more imperfections than most.

"Well I see your sense of chivalry hasn't gone anywhere." She reassured him as she climbed into the passenger seat, giving him a friendly peck on the cheek before she got in. "You're still the same knight in shining armor you always were."

"Heh, more like a dork in Reynolds Wrap, but I do what I can."

"Knight in shining armor. Preppy in tinfoil. Close enough."

….