Chapter Text
Will, Leno and Gabe move in a week before classes started, so they can settle in before Gabe's friends move in. Neither Leno or Will have ever met Fraser and Connor, but Gabe assures them that they’ll all get on well, all five boys have all played hockey to some degree while growing up, however Connor was the only one to stick by it, they are all still big fans.
The 5 boys are living in the Smith’s house on Comm ave that his parents and their friends lived in during their college years.
It has 5 bedrooms, two on the ground floor, on which Leno has already dibsed, and three on the 2nd floor, 2 out of the three have been taken by Will and Gabe. The trio did consider giving the two ones on the ground floor to the Vancouver boys, but Leno decided he cared more about having a south facing window than being near his boys.
The night before Fraser and Connor are set to move in Leno practically forces them to get drunk to ‘mourn the loss of the Boston trio’ before their sacred group is tainted by Canadians, which Gabe objects to on the grounds that he is Canadian so technically it has always been tainted. So that leads to a heated debate about whether Gabe even is Canadian which is commentated by Will who laughs along as Leno’s argument gets less and less logical.
Will gets the most drunk, as always. So Gabe is in charge of brushing his teeth and tucking him in, before retreating back to the kitchen to laugh with Leno over stories from high school about Will getting ‘White girl wasted,’ before Gabe makes the smart decision it’s time for bed so they can be as helpful as possible with the moving in the next day.
They wake up to loud angry knocking at the front door, Gabe stumbles down the stairs and opens it, two men standing in the doorway. A shorter one with light brown hair and blue eyes, and a taller man with slightly curlier hair. The short one looks oddly pissed off but the tall one is smiling brightly, stepping into the house and pulling Gabe into a hug, causing Leno’s face to darken and his shoulders to tense.
Gabe hugs him back, “Minten!” Gabe is pulling away gesturing to Will and Leno, “These are the boys, Will and Ryan,” he turns to Connor, “Will, Lenny this is Connor.” Connor’s face is slightly less pissed off now that he’s finally in a warm house and not outside in the morning chill.
Gabe is somehow the least helpful, he’s always been able to give the image of being very helpful while never lifting a finger, so after showing the Canadians around he stands in the living room while pointing around instructing people on where to go. Connor gets the room on the top floor, while Fraser gets the one on the bottom.
Will orders them pizza and the 5 boys settle in the living room over a microwaved pizza, while they all give their brief life stories.
Will is in his second year of a history degree, which Fraser perks up at explaining he is too, they make promises to compare their timetables later. Leno is doing a business degree which he hates and finds so very boring but he’s in his second year and is going to stick with it. Connor is doing a comms degree which he hates and is only a stepping stone until he actually signs with a NHL, he’s playing with the eagles this year and the boys decide they must go watch the opener with Fraser. They all bond over a shared hatred for Boston University.
Gabe was right they do get on well, Fraser might be a little quiet and blushes a little when everyone is listening to him, just like Gabe, but Connor talks enough for the two of them. Four hours into living together and Leno and Connor have already had a screaming match over who is better between the Bruins or the Canucks.
The argument is quickly over when Fraser pushes his phone into Connor’s hands, who frowns down at it then whispers something to Fraser who nods, Gabe who’s closest catches the words ‘Max… lets give it a day… anything else?” To which Connor shakes his head, handing the phone back.
The Canadians seem a bit on edge after that, constantly checking their phones then sighing when there are no new notifications. But, they still keep up with conversation well enough that they all seem to know each other well enough when they all get into their beds for the night.
At around 11 Gabe wakes up and sneaks his way into Will’s room. The blond boy is propped up against his pillows reading a book, he looks up at Gabe, his gaze softening, his pats the unoccupied side of the bed, which Gabe climbs into. Will turns to him “you okay?”
Gabe shakes his head just slightly, “Is it Lenny?” Will asks.
Gabe nods wordlessly before frowning, “I thought I’d be okay, living with him but I don't know.” Will nods, remembering how Gabe was originally unsure about living with Leno, his feelings still too fresh, not made any better by Leno’s apparent need to know why he didn’t want to live with them. Will remembers the way Leno’s voice had broken when he’d explained how he’d run into Gabe kissing a girl, how he thought they were something.
Eventually Gabe had put most of his feelings for Leno behind him, but when you’ve spent so long thinking about someone that way it’s hard to stop. Apparently he’s not fully over it based on the way Gabe is looking away sadly. Gabe has always been the kind of guy to bottle up his feelings and Will doesn’t want to force him. So he pulls the freckled boy into his chest and the covers up over him.
It doesn’t take long for Gabe to knock the fuck out against Will, who prays that Leno figures his shit out and realises just how in love Gabe is with him. Will prays that Leno gets over the ideals drilled into him by a priest and a very catholic household so he can finally realise that Gabe could love him just as much as a girl could.
— — — —
The next day Will wakes up alone in his bed, he stumbles to the living room, where surprisingly the hottest most beautiful man is sitting on his couch. He’s got big green eyes, and brown hair. The boy is watching tv curled in a blanket.
Will because he’s an idiot opens his mouth, “You’re not Gabe.”
The boy jumps, Will notices the tear tracks down the boy's face, as he looks at Will shocked. Will wants to pick him up and hide him from whatever has made him sad. “I’m not Gabe.” he pauses looking around, probably for Fraser or Connor, because Will would surely know if Gabe or Leno had a friend this beautiful, and he’s also sure this scared boy in his living room is not an intruder, the boy opens his mouth again. “I’m Macklin.”
Macklin, beautiful green eyed, floppy haired, Macklin.