Bruno waited outside University College, looking out on King's College circle. Despite the chill in the air, students were still scattered across the front campus lawn, which by this time of the year was more like a mud pit than anything else. Someone had started a game of ultimate, and he watched as someone slid with a loud whoop on mud, catching the frisbee as he went down. Packs of students were cutting across the grounds, completely ignorant of the game. It was little wonder that the university couldn't seem to keep any grass alive on it.
Under the canopy of yellow and orange trees lining the circle, Bruno caught sight of Cathy holding court. At the end of October, the student union was yet again in disarray, and Bruno was convinced that this year, Cathy would succeed in the coup she had been planning since their first year. He'd help, of course—but she had it well in hand.
There was a rustle behind him, the double-broad doors slamming open and a stream of students rushing down the stairs. UofT campus was huge, nearly fifteen minutes to bolt from one corner of campus to the other, which meant that most of them would have to book it to make their next classes in the ten-minute break. Bruno turned, looking for a familiar blonde head.
Boots was distracted, hurrying out towards the end of the mass of students. Bruno stood up, grabbing the smoothie beside him, one that he'd had to run off campus to find. Bruno preferred coffee (how else was he supposed to stay awake through microeconomics?) but Boots said it disrupted his swim performance. He shoved it into Boots' face.
"Eat," he said. "Or drink. It's so thick you might as well eat it."
Boots looked down at the white Styrofoam cup, the largest that Bruno had been able to buy, then looked up at Bruno with a slightly frazzled expression. "I'm late for practice," he muttered, but he took the cup anyway. "Just—I didn't get a good seat, and a pack of people were blocking the path to the door—"
"And you couldn't tell them to get out of the way?" Bruno smiled.
"That would have been rude." Boots popped the straw in his mouth, beginning to speed-walk towards the Athletics Centre. "Don't you have class? Or something better to do than to wait outside UC with a smoothie for my class to end to walk me to practice?"
Bruno shrugged, wrapping one hand around Boots' waist. "I have other things to do, sure. But better things to do? Never."
Boots laughed, slightly out of breath, as he sucked down the smoothie. "Flirt."
"What else would I be?" Bruno grinned.
The air was cool and crisp, St. George Street crowded as they dodged students on their way to their classes, their dorms, or the libraries. Years after Macdonald Hall, so many things had changed. They were older now, in different colleges and different classes. Bruno was Trin, studying economics and political science, while Boots was at UC, studying history. Bruno was in student government, while Boots stayed as far away from it as possible. They didn't live in the dorms anymore, and the skyscrapers of downtown Toronto was a far cry from the farmland and spotted bedroom communities close to their alma mater.
But more things had stayed the same. They still lived together, sharing rent on a house with Cathy and Diane. Bruno still raised hell, if in slightly more structured ways than he did before. Boots still swam. And they were still Bruno and Boots, still together, and that was what mattered.
AN: Oh, Macdonald Hall. It's such classic Canadian children's lit, and it has such a strong sense of place (there are so many little references throughout the books that tell you where the school is, if you're familiar with the area). The title means "as a tree with the passage of time" and is the motto of the University of Toronto. I thought Bruno and Boots' relationship would be much like that, growing stronger over time.