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Kent is the byproduct of two alcoholics and that's never been a secret. When you're twenty-four with one baby on your hip and another holding your hand you don’t have time to make up a lie about how mommy and daddy met. So when little Kenny asks how his parents met he gets the reply “At a meeting for junkies” and when Anna parsons thinks on it later she’ll wish she never said it and also that she could have a damn drink.
It’s not until he’s seven that Kent learns the whole story. His dad showed up two days ago a drink in hand. He’d only been gone for a few weeks this time and Kenny’s glad he’s home. Everyone at school keeps talking about how their parents fell and love. Every time he asks his mom she gets really sad and says she’s busy but dads home now. So he builds up his courage and asks “How did you and Mommy fall in love?” The face his dad makes is a mix between confusion and laughter “ Son, Anna and I never did fall in love. We were just two kids trying to pass the time without grabbing a drink, and you see how that worked out.” Then he grabbed another drink and was on his way.
At school on Monday that's exactly what he tells the boys at school, Mrs. Logan overhears and calls his mom in. She misses the first three scheduled meetings and shows up the fourth ten minutes late. “ Mrs. Parson glad you could make it this time." and oh how Anna hates that smug tone she's using. “ Can we keep this quick? Emma has a cold and as you know Kenny’s waiting for me outside.” After that the meeting goes by real quick. Anna sits and pretends to care all about what Mrs. Logan's saying. She doesn't really hear much other than Mrs. Logan’s worried about Ken’s home life and does he do any activities? “I know you might not be able to afford any but I think Kent would really benefit from more socialization.” Anna walks out right then. She grabs Kenny and walks down to the rink. The same rink that she won the Girls state hockey title at her freshman year. She signs him up for lessons because she can goddamn pay for her boys activities.
Then a month or so in the man that runs the boys hockey program comes up to her and says he’d like Kent try a practice with them. She wants to say no so bad, it’s hard enough for her to watch Kenny just skate laps but to actually watch her boy play hockey? She thinks that might just kill her but he’s good her boy and he loves it so she says yes and that's the start of a whole new chapter for the Parson family.
Fast forward seven years and Kent's a rising star in the hockey world. He’s sixteen and leaving home to play in Quebec. He’s leaving his mom and Emma and the whole neighborhood of people who helped him get to where he is. But that's okay because someday he’ll be making bank and he’ll be able to buy his mom a house and fix up the falling down rink he used to spend hours at. It’ll all be worth leaving in the end at least that’s what he says to himself.
His first practice goes great he and Zimm’s connect better than he ever could have hoped on the ice. Off the ice however is a different story. He’s quiet and barely talks to Kent or for that matter anyone else. But Kent's always like a challenge and how hard could it be to make Zimm’s like him.
The answer to that question is very hard. They’ve been playing together for two months now and Jack still barely says anything to Kent. He’s tried everything. He’s asked about Zimm’s family and what chicks he’s into and he’s even offered to do his homework for him cause most hockey guys hate homework but Kent finds it soothing. His attempts are all for nothing though. Zimm's clams up tight when asked about family and girls and just looks plain offended when Kent offers to do his homework. So Kent gives up. Who needs friends anyway.
Of course the second Kent stops trying Zimm’s decides Kent's worthy of his friendship. Practice just ended and Kent’s walking out when he hears Zimm’s shout “ Parse wanna come over?” and Kent's so shocked all he can say is “ umm yeah sounds good” Zimmerman doesn’t reply just keeps walking like he expects Kent to follow.
Kent does follow of course. He’s never been to Zimm’s billet house, doesn’t think anyone on the team has other than their goalie Jocky and that was only for a history project. It’s only a few blocks from the rink, within ten minutes Zimm's stops at a modest blue house and walks right in. There’s a pretty blond woman sitting at the kitchen table and the face she makes when Zimm’s walks in with another person is one Kent will never forget “ Jack Zimmerman you son of a gun. Finally did what I said and brought a friend over. You boys go straight down stairs have fun.” and damn that doesn’t really sit well with Kent. Sure he doesn’t really know Jack Zimmerman but he wants to be friends and if Jack invited Kent over to get his billet mom off his back that's super uncool.
“Hey, man you wanna drink” that's the first thing Zimm’s says since they got to the basement ten minutes ago and Kent’s glad because the silence has gone from okay to awkward. Kent’s not really thirsty but if it’ll keep a conversation going he’ll take one. “ Yeah sure you have sprite? Or water. Waters fine. Thanks” Zimm’s full out laughs at that. It’s the first time Kent’s ever seen him laugh and he thinks it may be the best thing he’s ever seen even if it is at his own expense. “ Naw man I’m I was talking about a beer or like a hard lemonade. You want.” and shit Kent’s never had a drink it’s never seemed like a good idea with his parents history and all but it’s Zimm’s who’s offering so how could he say no? So he says sure and that's the start of Parse & Zimm’s partners in hockey, drinking and life.
It’s not like all they do together is drink but it helps Kent calm down and from what he can tell it does the same for Zimm’s. So yeah when their not on the ice or at school they like to have a good time. It’s no biggie it's not like they're his parents who met AA or anything. The team keeps winning and winning. Reporters keep talking to them and Parse notices Zimm’s starts to take pills with his drinks sometimes. He doesn’t say anything because he likes the friendship they've got going on and he doesn’t want to ruin that.
The same day Kent turns seventeen they win a big game. So of course there's a party, a joint thank fuck we’re still in this and congrats on living to seventeen Parse party. Jack’s brought some good stuff that his billet sister picked up for him just for him and Kenny. For some reason the fact that it’s just for the two of them makes Kent blush. The two of them stick together like glue the entire night being a little more touchy feely than the average hockey bro pair. But Kent's realizing that's the way he likes it with Zimm's.
They stumble out the door a little past 3:00 and pause for a minute outside ready to go separate ways home until Kent says “ Zimm’s man my billet parents are out just come over” and Jack already mentioned to Karen he might sleep at one of the guy’s houses tonight so he just goes with Parse. Somewhere on the way home their hands intertwine and Jack finds that alright by him.
Parse wakes up to his legs tangled with Jacks and the sound of banging pots in his ears. He’s not quite ready to deal with the consequences of his and Zimm’s legs mixing so he focuses on the banging pots. He finds the source is his billet mom and sister standing over his bed. “Wakey wakey eggs and bakey” chants Gina as her mom continues banging. Kent already knew Zimm’s slept like the dead but the fact that all the banging and shouting hasn’t woken him up is crazy. If Kent has to deal with this so does Jack so he shoves him hard enough to wake him. “ Hi Jack. I already talked to Kendra and Joe and they agreed that you should join Kent today in mowing the lawn and trimming the trees and well anything else I think of. Ten minutes and I want you both outside working” and with that she and Gina are gone.
An hour into working on the lawn Kent feels like he’s dying. Zimm’s hasn’t said one word to Kenny. That’s an issue because there's no way Parse can bring up holding hands and cuddling without a few drinks in him. Just as he’s thinking that Zimm’s says “So about last night” and Kent can not deal with that talk right now. He can’t deal with the no homo talk or the still friends talk so he doesn’t reply just keeps pushing the lawn mower forward. He just keeps going and going until Zimm’s grabs his shoulder and pushes their faces together. It’s not Kent’s first kiss but is sure as hell feels like it is. It’s the best moment of Kent’s life only broken up by Jacks “Shit Kens, I just do you want to try” and in response he just leans forward again.
He and Zimm’s have been together for a few months when Kent finally asks what the pills Jack sometimes takes are. When he asks Jack goes real still for a few minutes before blurting out “Anxiety um I have anxiety and they help me deal. Like how you took a shot before talking to Greenberg about your English paper” and that makes sense to Kent so he just kisses Jack and moves on.
They end up with a winning season. They party for days, ace their finals and then it’s time for Kent to say goodbye and head home. It’s hard to say goodbye to his boys and his billet family but it’s even harder to say bye to Jack. They’ve been attached at the hips for months now and Kent doesn’t know what he’s going to do without him during the offseason. Plus he doesn’t know if Jack wants to keep up their thing over the break or not. He doesn’t have it in him to ask because he knows he might not like the answer. Jack never brings it up either but he does say he’ll call and that Kent should come up to the lake for a few weeks. That’s enough for Kent.
The flight home is only two hours but Kent's exhausted when he gets off the plane. He hasn’t seen his Mom or Emma in months and he may or may not tear up when he sees them. Emma runs right up to him and she’s only thirteen but she's already almost Kent's height. It makes sense she's only in eighth grade and they already have her playing on the J.V basketball team. But he can’t believe that the girl hugging him is his baby sister. His mom doesn't run over but she does speed walk a bit and god Kent's missed her. She looks tired but her eyes light up when she sees Kent. The three of them stand in that airport hugging for what seems like forever before they go home together.
Kenny’s been home for three days and he’s getting antsy. He loves his family but he needs out. So he hits up a few guys he used to go to school with and they invite him to a party some girl named Sandy's having while her parents are out of town. He tells his mom he’s going out and she looks worried but just tells him to be home by 12:00.
Anna Parson is not an idiot. She knows her son is seventeen years old and that teens drink. She also knows that a little drinking isn’t a issue as long as you don’t over do it. But she also knows that her sons been home for just three days and he looks bad. He looks shaky and nervous. He looks just like she did eighteen years ago when she was just getting sober. She wants to say something, maybe ask if he’s been drinking a lot but he needs to figure this out on his own. Anything she says would just make it worse and then he tells her he’s going out. He doesn’t ask her he tells her and she remembers doing the same to her mom back in the day. She waits up for him. He doesn’t come home at 12:00 or even 1:00 Instead he stumbles in around 2:00 kisses her cheek and goes to bed
Zimm’s comes through with an invite to Lake Rosseau for the last week in July and the first week in August. His mom doesn’t want him to go. She says he’s never home and does he really want to leave her and her sister again so soon after coming home? It takes a two hour phone conversation with Alicia Zimmerman for her to agree with him going. Kent doesn’t know how she convinced his mom to let him go but he does know he owes Mrs. Zimmerman majorly.
Kent's flight gets on an earlier flight because there are a bunch of extra seats and he got to the airport super early because he couldn’t sit still waiting at home. So he get in way earlier than the time the Zimmerman’s were supposed to pick him up. Kent doesn’t want to bother them plus if he shows up early he can surprise Zimm's.
The house the cab pulls up to is nothing like Jack described it. He said it was a modest cottage butt the building in front of Kent is huge, bigger than his entire apartment building. He guesses that to a rich kid this might be modest though so he’ll cut Jack some slack. He’s about to knock on the door when it swings open “ Parse, what are you doing here? We were just about to come pick you up.” Kent’s about to reply but before he can Jack pulls him into a hug and says “I’ve missed you Kenny” That's when Alicia show up “ Kent nice to see you! Head on up Jack will show you your room and boys keep the doors open. Dinner's at six” she gives them a look that makes their faces go red and walks away.
The weeks pass in a daze of drinks, and kisses, and dinners with Bob and Alicia. Before he knows it it’s the last day at the lake. He and Jack are sitting together on the dock watching the sunset when Jack tells Kent he loves him for the first time. Kent goes back to New York walking on air with his heads in the clouds. If anyone looked at his notebook they may have seen Mr. Kent Zimmerman written somewhere.
Summer ends and Kent’s ready for his last season before the draft. He’s ready to move up and play where he belongs and so is Jack. The season goes great, they win and they win and they win. Along with the winning there more drinking and loving and pill taking. He and Jack celebrate a year together and seem to realize at the same time that next year they’ll be apart. Neither of them say anything though, they just keep living.
The season ends and instead of going back to New York Kent goes home with Zimm's. They spend weeks doing what they do best drinking and being together without talking. All is well in Kent's world until the day before the draft.
He’s coming in from a run. He went alone for once usually Zimm's would go with him but he wasn’t feeling it. “ Jack.. Jack come on I’m bored lets swim. Shit Jack” he found Jack passed out in the living room by two empty bottles. One that used to be filled with Xanax the other with Vodka. And shit Kent never had the time to do the boy scouts thing and learn how to properly take a pulse but he does watch a lot of Grey’s Anatomy. He checks out the situation see’s if he can get away with not calling 911 but he can’t so he calls. He calls and he knows Jack will never forgive him but he’ll never forgive himself if he doesn’t.
Jack goes to rehab and Kent goes first in the draft to the Las Vegas Aces. He calls and calls but he was right when he said Jack would never forgive him. He has a drink and keeps calling. Eventually Alicia picks up and tells him that he needs to stop, give Jack time to heal and he’ll call Kent when he’s ready. Kent tries to argue with her. He’s drunk and sad and alone and he thinks he’s single now. But can you be single without break up? He goes on and on and then Alicia asks if he’s okay. “It’s only 1:00 pm in Vegas are you drunk Kenny” he hangs up and doesn’t call again.
The Aces needed him. Before him they were nothing so maybe the team and the staff notice he drinks a little bit too much but it doesn’t affect his game so they let it go. In eight years he brought countless awards including the Calder and two Stanley cups. He finds himself missing Jack more and more as time passes. They were supposed to do this together instead he’s been doing it alone while Jack's chilling at some barely D1 liberal arts school. So he decides to pay him a visit. It doesn’t go well.
In the aftermath of the visit Kent thinks long and hard about his life. He let the season end (they lose in playoffs) before he makes any drastic decisions. He allows himself one more binge drink session before he goes to the team doctor and says “ I think I may have a drinking problem”
He spends the rest of the off season detoxing and getting sober. It’s hard, he’s been drinking since he was sixteen but he does it. He makes it thirty day and then sixty and so on. It’s hard really hard and sometimes he wants to drink so bad but he doesn’t. He calls a team mate or his sponsor and keeps going.
Kent’s three years sober and their playing the Falconers in providence the next morning. He’s played against Jack before for their countries when they were younger and on separate NHL teams for the past couple of years. But for some reason this time feels different than all the other times. He needs to do something so he finds a meeting showers and goes.
The meetings held in the basement of a church like many meetings are. It’s not Kent’s home not his regular meeting filled with people he’s come to know so he just takes a seat, keeps his head down. That’s why he doesn’t notice the familiar face across the room until he raises his head and says “ Hi I’m Kent Parsons and I’m an Alcoholic” right in the direction of Jack Zimmerman.