…

Ill-Fated Love

"So, how was your summer?" Adam asked, smoothing out a wrinkle in his sheets as he made the bed. "You enjoy Montreal?"

Outside their door, the late arrivals could still be heard struggling with boxes and Rubbermaid bins, the smell of Lysol heavy in the air. Inside, Adam and Guy were unpacking bins of their own, their dorm room no longer the empty shell it had been just two hours before.

Already, the sides of the room were starting to look like their respective owners. On Guy's end, stolen beer signs leaned against the wall next to a Habs poster; a stuffed bear from Connie sitting atop his dresser. Over on Adam's side, 'Suge Knight' was dressed in a Ducks jersey, and the wall beside his bed had been covered in a tasteful pastiche; old childhood photos layered against colorful art. As Adam made his bed, Guy began the process of hanging and folding the clothes he'd crammed into a duffle bag the night before.

"Yeah, good stuff." Guy replied, transferring his treasured Tommy Hilfiger button down onto a hanger. "Apparently my dad is getting divorced and losing his house."

"Didn't he just get married like, three years ago?"

"Exactly."

"What happened?" Adam asked, his brow furrowed with concern.

"Well, this is my dad we're talking about. He's the one person worse at relationships than my mom."

"That's a real dream team you've got going there."

"Seriously." Guy sighed, his shoulders slumped.

For a moment, the two went back to putting up their stuff in silence; Adam fluffing a pillow while Guy folded jeans. Next door, they could hear the Bash Brothers blasting Metallica, strains of Fade to Black coming through the walls.

"I think this one takes the cake." Guy continued, reaching for a pair of Levis. "He decided to refinance his house. At a higher interest rate."

"Nice."

"Yeah, turns out he had a thing for the loan officer."

"Always a good reason to do things." Adam nodded, reaching up to straighten a Day-Glo painting of Ronald Reagan. "Pretty sure a hot Bauer rep is the main reason my dad signed us up for hockey."

"Better than a hot rep for the Ice Capades."

"No shit. Though seeing Scott in one of those glittery outfits might be worth it…"

Guy grimaced, the mental image of a hairy, slightly overweight Scott Banks in sequin spandex now etched in his brain.

Helen Keller doesn't know how lucky she was.

"Someone needs to thank that Bauer rep."

"I'm guessing the commission was thanks enough." Adam pointed out. "That was some pro-level gear for a toddler."

"Phil Banks in love. Not something a person hears about every day…"

"It happens. It's never with my mom, and it never ends well, but it happens."

"Yeah, that's one thing our dads have in common."

Soon, the two went back to straightening up; Guy turning his sights to the bag of laundry he forgot to wash before leaving home, while Adam organized his closet by color. Arranging a row of blue polos, Adam paused and turned back towards Guy.

"So was she at least good looking?"

"Who?" Guy asked, his focus now on the stench of his old gym shorts that had spent too long baking in a hot car.

One day, I'm going make enough money to live somewhere with a washer and dryer.

"The loan officer."

"She had Ellen hair, and gums that covered her teeth."

"Damn."

"I really hope I don't end up like that in another twenty years."

"I hope we don't end up like either of our dads."

Author's note: Yes, in retrospect, this scene absolutely could have been tacked onto Chapter 1. It is, after all, quite literally a continuation of 'Move in Day'. But, as short as it is, it felt separate. And so, a sad little midget chapter it shall be.*

*No offense to actual midgets.