Chapter 8
EIGHT
WE WERE TWENTY YEARS OLD
I shift on my feet and scan the crowd beyond the sliding doors, tracking each new group that steps through. Families, couples, people in suits… all swallowed up by the sea of people waiting to greet them.
The doors slide closed again, and I anxiously glance around the arrivals terminal of the giant Toronto airport. Until the whoosh of the doors snaps my attention back to another wave of people.
Then I see the backwards hat that’s frayed at the edges, with blond curls sticking out beneath it, and hazel eyes that immediately find mine.
A grin spreads across my face as Silas walks towards me, and I open my arms as he walks right into them. His arms loop around my back, and I hold him tight against me.
“How was the flight?” I ask, finally letting go.
“Hated it,” he says, adjusting his backpack on his shoulders and glancing around the crowded airport as he shoots dirty looks at no one in particular.
I laugh. “Yeah, I figured. At least your first-ever flight was a short one. Mine was seven hours.”
“Sounds like a fucking nightmare,” Silas says with wide eyes, looking like that thought alone will haunt him for the rest of his life.
“This it?” I gesture to his backpack.
“Yeah. I wasn’t about to go through all this bullshit.
” He waves towards the baggage claim, where a crowd gathers at the carousel, even though the bags haven’t started coming out yet.
They all keep pressing in closer to the area where the bags will come out, like being first is some kind of victory.
“Don’t blame you,” I mutter, steering us away from the chaos.
We weave through the maze of people as some wander aimlessly, and others charge forward as if they’re the most important person here. It takes a while, but we finally reach the train platform.
“Jesus,” Silas mutters. “This airport’s bigger than PEI.”
I chuckle. “Feels like it.”
The platform’s packed, and the crowd inches forward despite the train not arriving yet. Someone bumps into Silas’s back, and he stiffens, glancing over his shoulder as he shifts closer to me. When he gets bumped again, I hook a hand around his elbow and pull him in even closer.
“Welcome to the big city.” I shrug. “The one thing you can’t escape here is people.”
“Hm,” he hums under his breath, clearly unimpressed.
The train pulls in, and the crowd shifts immediately as everyone rushes for the same set of doors. I grab Silas’s arm and lead him down the platform to slip into a car with a bit more breathing room.
As we sit, I finally exhale.
He’s really here. In Toronto.
It’s the first time he’s ever left PEI. I know he’s been nervous about coming here, even if he tried to play it off.
I’ve been counting down the days to this visit all year, even though I just saw him over Christmas a few weeks ago.
But I’m excited to finally show him the life I have here.
At the same time, though, I can’t ignore how different this place is from home.
He thrives on space and quiet, and very little of either exists here.
So I want this weekend to be good for him, and I want him to really enjoy himself so he’ll come back and see me again.
As the train pulls away from the airport, Silas stares out the window. The lines of highway stack and twist into a cluttered lattice of overpasses and looping exits, with traffic flowing in every direction and buildings closing in on every side.
His fingers twitch in his lap, and I bump my fist to his knee.
His eyes meet mine, and I smile at him.
“This train takes us to Union Station,” I tell him. “Which is right by Scotiabank Arena.”
His eyes light up, and he smiles. I knew that would get him. We have tickets for the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens game tomorrow, for his first live NHL game. And we’re both pumped to watch Montreal win.
“It’s going to feel pretty good to see the Habs win on Leafs ice,” he chuckles.
“Oh, fuck yeah,” I agree. “And we need to go to the Hockey Hall of Fame before the game. I still haven’t been.”
Silas nods eagerly, shifting to relax back in his seat. “And the aquarium?”
I smile at the serious look on his face.
He’s been obsessed with that idea since he booked his flight.
I didn’t get it at first, since he’s never mentioned aquariums before.
But when he said it’s not the kind of landscape he ever gets to see in real life, it made sense.
He’s lived his whole life surrounded by water, but he’s never been able to see and draw what’s under it.
“And the aquarium,” I agree.
As the train moves into the city, we talk about the things we’re going to do and see, just the two of us, for the whole weekend. But when steel and mirrored windows reach into the sky, catching the late afternoon light as we roll into downtown, Silas’s eyes widen, and he grips the edge of his seat.
His anxiety only seems to grow as we step off the train into the crowd at Union Station.
The terminal swallows us whole as people flow in every direction, and we’re surrounded by shouting, movement, and the squealing sound of metal wheels on tracks.
By the time we board the subway headed for my stop near campus, he’s standing rigid, gripping a pole and shifting sideways as another group pushes through the subway car.
“This is a lot of work,” he mutters.
I shrug. “Yeah, but… it’s kind of fun.”
He raises a brow at me with pure skepticism, and I can’t help but laugh.
I knew he’d hate this part. This is a long way from hopping in his beat-up truck and rumbling down a dirt road to his destination ten minutes away.
And I was scared of it at first, too. But somewhere along the way, this chaos started to feel…
invigorating. There’s something happening everywhere, all the time.
I’ve found my favourite coffee spots, weird little bookstores, and random places that make the city feel like mine.
There’s always something new to explore, and always something to do and see. I never thought I’d like it this much.
This place never stops moving, and I want to keep up with it.
But it’s obvious this pace isn’t for Silas.
We’re just a few steps from my building when he steps off the sidewalk to avoid a group coming the other way and shakes his head.
“Just people… everywhere,” he mutters. He shoves his hands deep into his coat pockets and hunches his shoulders against the wind. “And it’s cold.”
I huff a laugh and reach for the door to my building. “Thought you were a tough farmer. Can’t handle walking in winter?”
He shoots me a look. “The winter I can handle.”
That I know. A PEI winter is a whole beast on its own, especially for farmers.
“Silas Gallant!” a voice booms as I push open my apartment door.
Silas glances up, startled, as Julien steps into view with his arms wide and a grin on his face.
“We finally meet the best friend,” he says.
Silas glances at me, then at Julien. “Uh… hi.”
“Come on.” Julien waves us in and heads for the kitchen.
I chuckle and kick off my shoes. Silas follows me inside, where Julien and Noah are waiting, already cracking beers and holding them out for us.
“In the flesh!” Noah says brightly, handing one to Silas. “Feels like I already know you, though.”
Silas chuckles and accepts the beer. “Yeah, same.”
I smile, glancing between them all. The two parts of my life, finally together in this room.
Noah and Julien are my roommates and my people in this city.
And Silas has been everything to me for as long as I can remember.
I’ve been wanting them to officially meet off of FaceTime since I first got here last year. And now it’s happening.
“You coming tonight?” Julien asks, lifting his beer.
“Where?” I ask.
“Maddie and Becca’s,” Noah says. “They’re having a party.”
I perk up and glance at Silas. Their parties are always fun, and everyone goes. It would be awesome for Silas to meet all my friends here.
His eyes slide to mine, and I see the flicker of fear in them before he blinks it away and looks down at his beer.
A small bit of disappointment stirs inside me, but I get it.
I turn to Noah. “I think we’ll skip—”
“Yeah, we’ll go,” Silas says.
I look at him in surprise, and he gives me a small shrug with a half-smile.
“Sick!” Noah pulls out his phone. “I’ll see who else I can round up.”
I clap a hand on Silas’s shoulder and tilt my head towards the hallway, motioning for him to follow me to my room.
I drop into the chair at my desk and take a sip of my beer as Silas sets his bag down on my bed and looks around the room.
And it’s strange that he’s never been in here before. We talk and FaceTime almost every day, when we can… but he’s here. In my room at school, where he’s never been. Where I’ve been living a whole life without him and have been waiting for the day he could be a part of it.
It’s weird that it feels so weird.
“We really don’t have to go tonight,” I say, pulling his attention to me as he looks over the books on my shelf.
“I know,” he says with a shrug, sitting on the edge of the bed. “But… I’m here to see your life, right?”
My eyes roam over his hoodie with the frayed hem, his worn jeans, and his old backwards hat. Here in the city, he looks more like a farmer than ever.
I nod slowly and smile. “Ok. But tomorrow, and the rest of the weekend, it’s just you and me.”
Silas smiles as his eyes brighten, making my own smile grow wider.
“Yo, let’s roll!” Julien shouts from the kitchen.
I give Silas one more questioning look, but he just pushes to his feet, ready to go.
Alright, then. Let’s do this.
Maddie and Becca don’t live far, so after a short, cold walk a couple blocks over, we step into their apartment where music is already blaring.
“Levi!” a girl calls out as I lead Silas into the kitchen.
I look up and spot Amara crossing the room with a big smile.
She wraps me in a hug, and I glance at Silas as she pulls away. “Silas, this is Amara.”