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The meeting ends and Kent tries to get out as fast as he can but he’s not fast enough and he can sense Zimm’s behind him before he sees him. “ Hey Kenny wait up” and that one phrase brings him back to when he was seventeen and in love. “ Jack I uh didn’t expect to see you here” he stammers and Jack stares him down and says “ Come on we can talk it all over coffee the place down the street is great. Bitty loves it there” then he just walks away expecting Kent to follow like he always used to and so Kent follows.
The coffee place is cute, filled with vibrant colors and baking quotes on the walls it doesn’t look like a place his Jack would frequent but this Jack is not his Jack. This smiling, happy, sober Jack is not his Jack and that's okay. “ I think they have some decent gluten free things here so you’ll be good on that front. What do you want on me” and that's the Jack Kent knew. The Jack that spent months helping Kent find the best gluten free food in Montreal. “ Um I’m good on food but I’ll have a small black coffee and I can pay for it. Thanks” and he doesn’t take the money Kent pulls out just walks up to the counter and gets in line.
He returns with not only two coffees but also two cupcakes that look delicious but Kent really has no appetite right now. “ Zimms unless you’re about to eat both of those you wasted 3 dollars.” and then Zimms makes a face that Kent's seen so many times before “ Kenny are you not eating again? You need to eat” and Kent's torn between being pissed off and being happy that Jack still cares. He decides to just let it go “ Jeez Zimms I eat. It's been awhile how are your parents. Your boy?” and Jack looks like he wants to keep pestering Kent about his eating habits but he’d rather talk about his parents and Eric then start a fight. “ They’re good. Mamans still doing all her charity work and that designer show you like wants her to guest judge next season so she might do that. Papa’s bored out of his mind at home and now he can’t even play in the beer league because of his bad hip. He keeps bringing up grand kids but I just keep telling him he should have given me another sibling or two. Bitty’s good he’s teaching skating lessons and writing freelance for a couple different baking magazines. We have a dog now a shepherd mix named Pecan” Zimms says it all in one big breath as if he stops to breathe he won’t be able to finish speaking. “ I’m glad everyone's doing well Zimms and that designer show is Project Runway and you know it. You binged watched at least three seasons with me so don’t pretend you didn’t. And last I checked you were allergic dogs so how's that working out?” he asks as he rips a small piece off the cupcake and into his mouth.
“ He’s a hypoallergenic dog from Arkansas. How are your mom and Emma doing?” Jack asks as he watches Kenny pick bits and pieces off his cupcake. “ Mom’s getting married in a few months. You and your parents should be on the look out for your invites. Emma’s going to be senior next year and she’s either going to go to med school or the WNBA and then med school she hasn’t decided yet but I don’t think she's ready to say bye to basketball yet so we’ll see.” another piece of the cupcake gone. “ I’m glad they both deserve to be happy. So it was nice to see you at the meeting tonight. I’m glad your doing okay. Are you seeing anyone?” Jack can’t tell if Kent's actually eating the cupcake or just moving it around like he used to “ Yeah I’m good these days. Been sober a while. Uhh I was seeing someone for a while but he couldn’t deal with me being out of town all the time and he liked to drink a lot and I obviously don’t do that anymore so we weren’t the best match” he goes for a sip of his coffee and realizes that there's none left. A quick look at his phone and he sees that he and Jack have been in the cafe for over an hour. “ That sucks Ken but you’ll find someone. Listen I have to go soon it’s my turn to make dinner but I miss you and I think we’re at a place now where we can be friends. Do you, do you think we can be friends?” and that makes Kent think because yeah he misses Zimms but he doesn’t really know if he’ll be able to handle the whole friends thing. He kinda has a history of destroying things and he doesn’t want to put Zimms through that twice. Not now when he’s so happy with his life.
“ Yeah I think we can be friends but uh we need rules okay. We need friendship rules to follow okay.” and then he pulls out a notebook and a two pens. “ Kenny do we really need rules? We’re grown men I think we can handle friendship without rules” Jack replies with a smirk. “Last time we didn’t have rules and you know how that turned out. So yes we need rules I’ll right the first one then you and then we’ll alternate Okay good. I know you have to go so we’ll be quick.”
The Parson- Zimmermann Friendship contract
1)You Can’t Call me Kenny Anymore
2) You Have to be polite to Bitty
3) Trust me when I say that I’m eating
4) We talk at least once every two weeks (Email, Text etc.)
5)Don’t shut me out again
6) If something bad happens we talk it out even if it’s awkward
7)Meet up after games when we can
8)Respect boundaries
9) Friends despite what happens in the rink
10)Think before we speak
11) If Kit and Pecan are in the same room Instagram photo must be taken
Kent Parsons Jack L Zimmerman
“That last one's silly are you sure you want to keep it in Kenn- sorry Kent?” Jack asks. “ Yeah I’m sure we need it. Now go make dinner text me later and I’ll see you at the game tomorrow okay” Kent stands and so does Jack. “ I’ll see you then Kent” one awkward hug and then he’s off his copy of the contract in hand and Kent feels happy.