On Thin Ice

Bonus | 03 - Fox's POV

Fox's Anthology

Two Days Later

It had only been half an hour into the car ride down to Quinnipiac and Ian was already complaining about "third wheeling" with Elijah and me.

"Ian, I let you have the front seat. You can't complain," Elijah commented from behind us.

"I had to take the front seat so you wouldn't suck Fox's dick while he's driving and get us killed," Ian retorted.

"I can still do that from back here," Elijah pointed out.

"I wouldn't oppose," I said.

Ian groaned and covered his eyes with his hand, leaning his head against the window.

"You two must actually hate me," he grumbled.

I briefly looked at Elijah through the rear view mirror and the two of us shared a grin.

"You love us," Elijah said, Ian grumbling under his breath as he leaned his head against the window.

Ian was just irritable because he was nervous about moving into school, not that he would ever admit that. I just knew, being his best friend and all. I knew he would miss me, just as I would miss him, even though he was acting like he wanted to throw himself out of my moving vehicle.

We drove for another half an hour before I had to stop at the rest area. The three of us got out to use the bathroom, then Elijah went into the store to buy some snacks while Ian and I went back to the car.

"Why are you in such a bad mood?" I asked Ian when the two of us were alone.

"I'm always like this," he replied with a blank stare. I really couldn't argue with that.

"You seem moodier than usual."

"You seem less moody than usual. Are you happy to be getting rid of me?"

I glared at him. "Shut up."

Elijah got back to the car a moment later, sliding into the back seat.

"I got us pringles and cookies and waters," he said, holding up the bag of snacks.

Then we were back on the road again.

When we finally arrived at Quinnipiac, there was barely anybody there. I dropped Ian off outside the housing office so he could get his room key and then we were off to find his room.

Ian was going to be sharing a suite with some of the other hockey players on his team, but he was the only one moving in early, so he would have the place to himself until the end of August. The suite was a decent size for a college dorm. There was a common area and a small kitchen area and two bathrooms. Around the common areas were the bedrooms.

The room was as big as to be expected for a dorm room. There was a bed on each side and I immediately chose the one on the left or Ian.

"What if I wanted the other one?" he asked me.

"Well, do you?"

"I don't give a shit."

We started unpacking his things which wasn't a lot. Ian didn't bring much with him, just his clothes, hockey things, and a few other items. It didn't take us long to get everything unpacked. When we were done, it felt too soon and I didn't want to leave just yet. I hated the thought of leaving Ian here all by himself. I was dreading it the moment I said I would drive him here.

"Do you want us to take you to the store to get anything else you need?" I asked him, trying to prolong us staying here without him knowing.

"I don't need anything else," Ian replied, not looking at me.