The fascinating part of Jayden Perron is he’s just… gone. He was Mack’s boybestfriend with couple names and codependency and then Mack went to bu and seemingly never thought about him again. And that to moi is a very interesting chara note. And what does it mean for the will of it all, when Mack has had these close friendships before but this is the first time that he made a friend without knowing it was going to end with the season. He likes Will the best of all, and it’s so much more intense, so much more real, because he’s still going to be there next year and the year after and the year after. And Mack doesn’t quite know how to package up all the things that has made him feel for Will, the friend he loves best, the friend he might just get to keep.
yesss exactlyyyy. cheetah and puma, hunting on the ice together. living together. knowing each other's favourite players and restaurants and musical artists. in old chicago steel clips, mack is staring intensely at jayden, like he wants to climb into his head and burrow into his brain. sound familiar?
cole eiserman, at ssm. jayden perron, in chicago. lane hutson, at bu. and where are they now? mack has always latched on to his One Guy in each locker room and then left them behind just as easily. and can you blame him? imagine moving from your childhood home to a different country at the tender, highly formative age of 12. never getting a chance to put down roots bc just two years later you boarded at shattucks for a season, then chicago for a year, then BU as a 17yo freshman who was never coming back for a second year once eligible for the show (despite what he promised eiserman lmao. poor eisy). imagine floating from team to team, roster to roster, always the new guy and the best guy and the youngest guy, too. of course mack learned how to fall fast and move on faster. how lonely, otherwise (even still?)
i do think he genuinely loved those boys, but so much of it was tied up in the hockey and the proximity of it all. and that's normal in hockey, where seasons end and trades happen and the guy you scored with one day is facing off across the dot from you the next; and esp for mack, raised to revere hockey as his god and moral compass and one true friend all in one. and then — enter will, who isn't going anywhere. will, who clutches his old friends with an iron grip and devoted dedication to keeping them in his life; who refuses to let them out of his circle. will, who switched positions to play on mack's line, for mack’s hockey, in possibly the deepest most romantic proclamation of loyalty ever to mack. will, who likes mack back just as much. will, who mack might finally, finally get to keep—!!!
