S C O T T

"It's our friendship anniversary!" Connor cried, grabbing the pillow behind him to whack me in the head with it, "We have to do something!"

Connor tended to make up a lot of fake holidays and anniversaries. Back in high school, he had tried to convince our chemistry teacher that there was such thing as a Connor Day, and he said it was when you give a present to someone you know named Connor. Con had even tried to convince him mom, once, that there was a new holiday called Son Day, where you bought your son whatever he wanted.

I had never heard of our 'friendship anniversary'. For as long as I had known Connor, he had never once mentioned our friendship anniversary. But now he was saying that I couldn't go out (or back to sleep) because we just had to celebrate and honor our anniversary.

"It's not even today," I mumbled, snatching the pillow out of his hand and hugging it to my chest, "I just want to take a nap."

"And you'll have other days to nap," Con promised, grabbing my discarded shoes off the floor and shoving them towards me. He turned to me and pouted, honey-colored eyes going wide, "Now that you have Elle, I'm basically the ignored best friend, so I'll be damned if you skip out on our anniversary!"

"We live in the same apartment," I said, but reluctantly shoved my shoes on anyway, "It's kind of hard to ignore you."

Connor glared at me and I sighed, holding up my hands. I knew there was no getting out of this; when Connor wanted something, he eventually got his way. And it was better to just agree with him then argue until I got so annoyed that I agreed anyway.

Connor grinned and stood up and I rolled my eyes, pulling my phone out of my pocket. Elle hadn't shown up to practice today, and I had gotten a little worried when she didn't answer my text. I bit my lip and snatched my wallet off the table (because, really, I always needed it when I went out with Con), and clicked on my text to Elle, just in time to see her respond.

From Elle :)):

yeah, sorry, i'm just sick ): dad said i can't come to practice because i might get you sick, because, like.. you know. kissing.

I blushed and laughed at her message, a grin breaking out on my face. It was still a bit weird to think that Coach Monroe had accepted Elle and I dating, and it was even weirder to think about him telling Elle she couldn't come to practice because she might get me sick.. By kissing.

To Elle :)):

ew don't come near me with your germs, thanks.

I spent a good couple of minutes texting Elle (I admitted that I really wouldn't mind if she came near me with her germs), before Connor came sprinting down the hallway. His hair was a mess, and one sleeve of his sweater was rolled up higher than the other, but he was still grinning childishly, brown eyes gleaming.

Con snatched my phone out of my hand and I glared, attempting to pull it back, but he just shoved it in his back pocket, "No phones," he scolded, "They're distracting."

At the same time Connor said that, his phone rung and he pulled it out of his pocket, a goofy smile on his face. I snorted and snatched his phone out of his hand, shoving it in my back pocket. Con's eyes went wide as he stared at me and I just shrugged, shooting him a satisfied smirk before pulling the door open and slipping out.

Connor laughed and closed the door, falling into step beside me. I was exhausted, and I had just gotten changed out of my jersey (it was completely amazing to see Wilson written on the back of a Marlies' jersey), when Con demanded that we have our friendship anniversary. All I wanted to do was go to bed, honestly.

"How exciting is this?" Connor nudged my shoulder with his, a huge smile still on his face, "I mean, this just shows how long I've put up with you - "

"More like how long I've put up with you - "

"Like, I deserve an award," Connor said, completely cutting me off. I laughed and elbowed him in the ribs and Con pushed me away, a somber look on his face, "You know, I totally do, too. 'Best friend in the entire universe', I deserve that."

I flipped Con off and walked faster down the hallway, clicking the button for the elevator. Connor was walking slowly behind me, going off about how he expected the 'best friend in the entire universe' award for his birthday, because, apparently, he beat all other best friends in the universe. Not that I would ever tell him that he actually did beat every other best friend.

"Sure!" I called in agreement, stepping into the elevator. Connor's eyes went wide and he started sprinting to make it before the doors closed.

Con slipped in and the doors slipped shut behind him. Whipping towards me, Connor sent me an annoyed look and I just smiled back innocently at him.

"And you," Connor huffed, crossing his arms across his chest and leaning back against the wall, "deserve meanest best-but-not-best friend in the entire universe award."

I just grinned brightly at him and hit the button for the lobby, "Happy best friend anniversary."

Connor's idea of celebrating our friendship anniversary meant going to a waffle house.

Since this was the closest restuarant (kind of) to us, Connor had driven us to the waffle house. I laughed at his choice and Con just said that you could never go wrong with waffles on a best friend anniversary day. I wasn't complaining, though, especially since I 'accidentally' left my wallet in his car.

I sighed and leaned back in my side of the booth, looking down at the half-eaten waffle on my plate, covered in whipped-cream and strawberries. I had already had two waffles - practice had made me starving - and I was half-way through my third. But now I just felt exhausted and it was an effort to even lift the fork.

"I think," Connor grumbled, laying back in his seat. He rubbed his hands over his stomach dramatically and groaned, "I might explode."

"Not on me," I replied, tiredly leaning forward and stabbing my fork into the waffle. I slouched down in my seat and leaned towards it, taking out a huge chunk, "I'm going to die. And on my gravestone it's gonna say, 'death by over excessive consumption of waffles'."

Connor went on a speech about how deadly waffles truly could be, and I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. I sighed and pulled it out, not bothering to check who had texted me. I swiped my thumb across the screen and frowned when I saw Jay's message. He had gotten checked into the wall pretty badly and had been in a bad mood for the rest of practice.

From Jay:

yo Scott you left your glove at practice so I got it for you. learn to wash this thing man it smells like fucking shit, I washed it for you. thank me when you don't get parasites growing on your fingers

I scoffed at Jay's message, because my glove didn't smell that bad. I was just bad at keeping up with cleaning my stuff. Writing back a, 'thank you' I was surprised to see him respond back so quickly.

From Jay:

don't thank me. I only washed it bc its stench was making my eyes burn (p.s. con told me about your friendship anniversary so have fun!)

I laughed at Jay's message and shoved my phone back in my pocket before turning back towards Connor. He was grinning widly again, his plate pushed towards the edge of the table. Before I even got a chance to think about taking another bite of my waffle, Connor was up and ushering me to follow him, saying how 'phase two' for our day was about to start.

Connor paid for the food quickly and we left the waffle house. I started in the direction of his car and Con laughed, grabbing my shoulders and leading me down the street. I yawned, but reluctantly followed after him. I was too tired to complain, and Connor was practically skipping down the sidewalk.

"'M gonna get sick," I called, tugging the sleeves of my sweater down over my fingers, "Con, what's phase two?"

"Phase two," he grinned and turned around, flashing me a double thumbs-up, "is when you stop complaining and accept that I'm about to get you the best surprise for friendship anniversary day."

I jogged to catch up with Con and wrapped one arm around his shoulders, tapping my fingers on the side of his arm, "So what you're saying is that you got me a surprise?"

"No."

"So you're saying you didn't get me a surprise?"

"Nope."

"Connor - "

"Scott, I will kick you so hard that you completely fly out of Canada," Con stated, and I chucked, holding up my hands in mock-defense, "Oh, and there's a patch of ice right in front of you."

Connor's warning came a little late, and I ended up stepping right on the ice. I yelped and my feet went out from under me, causing me to slam into the ground. I groaned and pushed myself up, my butt aching from the impact. Connor laughed and ran ahead and I scowled at him, slowly standing up and following after him.

We walked for about another ten minutes, and then Con stopped in front of Sport Chek. I quirked an eyebrow at why he had picked a sports store, but he just grinned and pushed me through the front doors. I pushed Con off and followed him towards the back, where they had their custom section.

Connor talked to the guy behind the counter and I awkwardly stood behind him, rocking back and forth on my heels. I couldn't believe that Connor had actually gotten me something, especially because I hadn't even thought it was our friendship anniversary today.

"Close your eyes," Connor demanded, and I stared at him in surprise, "Scott! You make it so hard to give you a surprise!"

So I reluctantly held my hands over my eyes.

Connor told me to open and I stared at the blue and white Maple Leafs jersey in his hand. Connor spun the jersey around and I gaped when I saw, Wilson written across it, with the number fourteen on it. Connor had gotten a custom made Maple Leafs' jersey for me - for the team I hoped to someday play on.

"Holy shit," I muttered, holding the jersey out in front of me and staring at it, "I can't believe you got this for me."

"It's a gift, for making the Marlies," he grinned and leaned against the counter, eyes sparkling, "I figured I mine as well get your a Leafs jersey, since you'll be there soon enough."

I leaned forward and gave my best friend a huge hug, thanking him. What he did - getting me the jersey meant a lot to me. Through everything, Connor had always supported me and I was always so grateful to have a best friend like that. It was one of the best things in the world.

I pulled back and Connor grinned crookedly at me, "Also, our best friend anniversary is next week."