july, age 22
Saturday was destined to be a glorious day before it had even begun. The sky was a rainbow of purple and red on Friday night that had given way to a stark black sky dotted with bright stars and blinking planes. The sun lifted its head to a cloudless ocean of blue when morning broke, bright orange and yellow streaking across the day’s fresh canvas like wispy contrails. Outside the window, the birds tweeted their greetings in a lyrical song, the swallows diving to and from the nests they had built in the roof’s alcoves.
The city was lazy on the weekends, people dragging themselves from their beds so late that it was almost midday before the streets came to life. Lucas loved that. He loved to roll out of bed when the sun beckoned him to say hello, those crisp weekend mornings when he left Asher to sleep in which he took advantage of his city’s hours of peace. After a mug of green tea, which he was learning to love, he liked nothing more than to wander the streets or stroll along the promenade, admiring the sea’s lazy waves lapping at the stony shore and watching the dog walkers.
Today was no different. With a newspaper folded between his elbow and his ribs, he let the sun graze his skin. Although it wasn’t quite nine, it was getting hot already and he was glad that he had worn shorts for his expedition to the corner shop. When he came to the railing that separated the road from the drop to the beach, he paused to lean against it and he closed his eyes. The occasional car or bus rumbled past, the noise of city life that complemented the squawk of seagulls and the steady roll of the tide.
Sometimes it was nice to just take a backseat and enjoy life going on around him without having to take part. Slipping the gears of his overactive brain into neutral, he allowed the calm of the seaside to wash over him as the sun dappled his freckled cheeks, the heat softened by the whisper of a breeze. It wasn’t often he was able to switch off like that, relishing in a moment of solitude.
Something brushed against his waist. His heart jumped to his throat and his pulse began to gallop; he jerked away from the touch and whipped around with his arm at the ready to attack, only to see Asher on the cusp of losing it. His grin was painfully wide, his eyes creased and filled with laughter. He gripped Lucas’s elbow as though he would fall over if he let go.
Lucas scowled at him, his hand over his heart as though that would soothe the rushing beat. “don’t do that,” he snapped. “You nearly gave me a heart attack! That’s not funny.”
“Sorry,” Asher said. He didn’t look it and he didn’t sound it either. “I just wanted to surprise you.”
“By attacking me in the street?” His scowl deepened. Asher stepped back with his hands up, a twinkle in his eyes.
“Ok, ok, bad idea. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to freak you out.” He kissed him quickly. “Hi, by the way.”
“Hi.” Lucas softened and kissed Asher back. “What’re you even doing here? You were fast asleep when I left.”
“Or was I?” Asher wiggled his eyebrows but he couldn’t keep up the act for long before he cracked up. “Yeah, I totally was. But then I woke up and you know what I just did for a whole hour?”
Lucas slowly raised his eyebrows, his nose wrinkling. “As long as you cleaned up after yourself,” he said. Asher frowned, confused for a moment before he guffawed, tripping back a step and almost losing his balance.
“What? Oh my God, no! Not that. Not without you.” He winked. “No, I tidied.”
Lucas’s eyebrows lifted even higher. “You tidied? As in … you tidied?”
“Yup.” Asher grinned. “I cleaned the whole flat.” He took Lucas’s hand, playing with his fingers. “I packed everything you laid out for this weekend: everything’s in its place. I even remembered the little cap thing for your toothbrush.” He twisted round to show Lucas the bag on his back, the one they shared each time they headed back to Farnleigh for a couple of days. Just big enough for the necessities, rarely bothering to pack more clothes than underwear when their bedrooms were still intact in their parents’ homes.
“You packed? And you tidied?” Lucas asked again, disbelief in his voice. Asher nodded, grinning.
“To your standards and everything.” He wore a cheeky look on his face as he talked. “I did all the washing up and I put everything away in size order; all the laundry is put away in colour order – including socks and undies – and I even hoovered the whole flat and cleaned the bathroom.” He pulled Lucas closer, his hands draped around his waist to meet at the small of his back. “The place is spotless, I promise.”
Lucas looked up at him. “Why’d you do that?”
“Because I love you,” Asher said. “I know you wanted to set off pretty promptly today and I didn’t want you feeling like you had to rush to tidy before we left.”
Lucas’s chest flooded with love, adoration bubbling onto his lips in a kiss. “Thank you. You didn’t have to do all that,” he murmured. “I was only going to straighten up a bit.”
Asher laughed, nestling closer. “Oh, baby,” he said, stroking his cheek. “There’s no straightening you up.”
Lucas snorted but he couldn’t deny it. He kissed Asher and smiled. “I love you,” he said, his hand resting on his boyfriend’s waist. “So, if you tidied … and you packed … we’re ready to go?”
“Mmhmm.” Asher nodded. “I turned everything off and locked up, and the train tickets are definitely anytime returns, so we can head off … well, any time now.”
“You’re amazing,” Lucas said. “I guess we might as well head to the station, then.”
“What time’s the party again?” Asher asked as they began to walk, turning their backs on the sea to start the walk up the long slope that led directly to the station.
“Tom said to be there for three,” he said, “but I wanted to drop our stuff off at your parents’ before then and maybe grab some lunch somewhere. If we go now, we can be there before one, I reckon.”
“Perfect time for lunch,” Asher said. “I can’t wait to see everyone.”
Lucas smiled. He was quietly excited too. He had never been one to enjoy social occasions, especially not with too many people, but it felt like forever since he had seen his friends and he’d had plenty of time to prepare for this gathering. Tom had rung him a couple of months ago to tell him about a surprise birthday party he was throwing for Mika, and he and Asher had jumped at the excuse to go home and spend a little time with the people they loved. The timing was perfect, the day after schools broke up for the summer, so everyone could make it to celebrate Mika’s twenty-second.
It would be busy. Lucas had mentally prepared himself for that. His family would be there, a crowd enough on their own, but Mika’s friends and family would be joining the clan and he already knew that he would get overwhelmed but he had Asher by his side. That always seemed to help, even just knowing that he could reach out and hold his boyfriend’s hand. There were times that even in the middle of a family gathering, he felt isolated as though he was trapped in his own little bubble, but Asher always knew how to stop those feelings from sinking in too deeply.
*
The train pulled up to the platform as they arrived at the station, the doors to the first carriage coming to a stop exactly where they were standing. But they weren’t the only ones. The platform was busy, crowds of people cramming to get on the same train. Lucas felt that familiar squirm of dread in the pit of his stomach, his lungs constricting until he struggled to regulate his breathing.
“It’s busy,” Asher murmured, stating the obvious as he looked up and down the platform. They had chosen to take the train to avoid the holiday traffic and to free Asher up from behind stuck behind the wheel, beholden to his car, but Lucas was beginning to question that decision.
“It is,” he said, unease in his voice. Asher squeezed his hand.
“Good thing I got first class tickets,” he said, digging out a couple of tickets.
“What?”
Asher grinned. “I got first class tickets.” He leant close and as his lips brushed against Lucas’s cheek, he added, “We won’t have to squash up with the hoi polloi.”
“I think I love you even more.”
*
First class was a breeze compared to the crush in the other coaches. The two of them found a pair of unreserved seats facing the right way, settling in for the three-hour ride that would take them straight to Farnleigh.
“This’ll be nice,” Asher said with a sigh resting his head back and turning his cheek to look at Lucas, who had made himself comfortable against the window. “It’s about time we took a break, huh?”
“Mmm.” Lucas nodded. The past few months had been rough as the workload had increased in the run-up to summer, when Chess House published more novels than any other time of year. Asher had been working flat out on the handful of cover designs he had been put in charge of, as well as a couple of pieces of freelance work, while Lucas had been inundated with last minute editing. Going through what felt like a million manuscripts with a fine-tooth comb, he had even come across some he knew he would be buying as soon as the paperbacks came out.
It had been a while since either of them had taken so much as a day off. Their last break had come at Easter, more than three months ago, when they had taken a couple of weeks off to coincide with the school holidays. After a fortnight back home surrounded by children and more parents than was necessary, it had been quite a relief going back to work, but now the fatigue had set in again. They had racked up another week’s holiday, planning to spend the weekend with their friends and family and the rest of the week was set aside for nothing but relaxing back in their flat.
The morning’s tidy-up seemed to have got the better of Asher, who drifted off after forty-five minutes with his head on Lucas’s shoulder. He slept soundly, undisturbed by the rumble of the tracks or the call of the ticket inspector. Two hours later, he was still snoozing, nestled against his boyfriend, and he didn’t wake up even when Lucas’s phone rang, buzzing between them. It shocked Lucas, who wasn’t used to his phone making noise. It ordinarily lived on silent mode until both his mother and Asher had grown irritated with never being able to get through to him.
He dug it out of his pocket without jabbing Asher, registering a moment’s surprise when he saw Mira’s name on the screen. They tried to keep in touch though that usually meant a long video call every couple of weeks, when Lucas and Asher stayed up later than usual to account for Mira and Mawar being six hours behind them. It had only just gone twelve, which meant it was the crack of dawn in Michigan. Mira never usually got up until ten, even later on the weekends.
“Hello?” Lucas cautiously said, as though there could be someone other than Mira on the other end of the line.
“Hey, Lukie-lou!” Mira’s voice was unmistakeable, her accent crisp and clear down the line despite the speed of the train. “Where are you?”
Lucas frowned. “Um, on the train,” he said. “Asher and I are just heading back to Farnleigh. Tom’s throwing a birthday party for Mika.”
“Oh, awesome! What time does your train get in?”
“About fifteen minutes?” He glanced out of the window, recognising the fields that zoomed past before the rural view would give way to the outskirts of town. “What’re you ringing me at six in the morning for?”
Mira laughed. “It’s noon! God, Lucas, do you know me at all? Since when have I ever got up at six?”
“Wait … are you in England?”
“Hell yeah we are!” she yelled. There was a laugh in the background, Mawar’s distinctive chuckle. Lucas missed her laugh. “We landed yesterday.”
“Oh my goodness. You’re here? In Farnleigh? How come?”
“Well, Tom emailed us about the party a while ago,” she said, “and obviously he didn’t actually expect us to come but we’re long overdue a trip across the pond so we’re spending a few weeks with Mar’s parents. But we didn’t tell Tom we’re coming – nobody knows we’re here yet.”
“That’s amazing, oh my goodness.” Lucas’s heart soared. He and Mira had grown so close over their three years at university that he had missed her presence ever since she had left. In the two years since they had graduated, she and Mawar had only spent a few months in England, resetting the ninety days on Mawar’s visitor visa before she had eventually found work.
“Yeah, it’s pretty exciting,” Mira said. “Ok, scratch that, this is super fucking exciting. I haven’t seen you two in so fucking long. Like, a year. God, I can’t wait. Listen, we’re in Coofee. Come straight here. We’ll be waiting!”
“Ok, ok, yes we will,” Lucas said. “I can’t believe you’re in England!” He checked his watch and measured it against the views outside, adding the time it would take to walk to the coffee shop. “We’ll be with you in … twenty minutes, max.”
“Awesome! Can’t wait. Bye! Love you!” She blew a kiss and hung up, leaving Lucas a little lost for words. It was a lot of information to take in at once, changing his plans for the hours before the party, but he couldn’t complain. He missed his friends, and now they would all be in the same place for the first time in over a year.
Asher stirred, slowly lifting his head with a yawn, rubbing his eyes. “Shit. I didn’t mean to fall asleep. Have I been out long?”
“Well, we’re nearly there,” Lucas said, tapping the window with his knuckle. “It must be all the tidying. You shocked your body and it needs to recover.”
He let out a low rumble of a laugh, sitting up straighter and stretching out the crick in his neck with a wince. “I didn’t snore, did I?”
Lucas shook his head. “You slept like a baby,” he said. “Well, one that actually sleeps.”
“I never understood that saying,” Asher mused. Neither did Lucas. He had plenty of experience with babies but not a lot that involved them sleeping soundly on a busy train – or much at all – and although Asher’s only experience was his sister, who had been two when she had joined the family, it had been more than a year before she had really settled, especially at night.
“Sleep ok?”
“Mmm, yeah. Surprisingly well. You’re a very comfortable headrest.” He kissed Lucas’s cheek. “Were just talking to me just now?”
“Oh, no, that was Mira,” he said, holding up his phone as evidence. “She and Mawar are in Farnleigh.”
Asher sat up straighter. “They are? What? Why? They came over from America? Seriously?”
Lucas laughed and said, “Ok, one question at a time please.” He filtered through the words Asher had thrown at him. “Yes, they are. They came over from America because Tom invited them to the party and they wanted to see everyone so they’re here for a couple of weeks, but no-one else knows yet.”
“Oh my God. That’s crazy. As if they came over!” He slumped back against the seat. “I’ve missed those two.”
“Me too,” Lucas said. When he and Asher had first become a couple, and so soon after Asher and Mawar had broken up, he had been worried about how that would affect the nature of their group. Part of him had been worried that things would be weird between him and Mawar or that Asher would never really be over her, but those fears had never materialised. Their break-up had been healthy and mutual, both now dating people they adored.
Lucas loved Mawar. Not a lot of people got to say that about themselves but she was one of them, a friend who had wormed her way under his skin to the point that he loved her, almost as though she was an add-on to his own family. Mira was the same, someone who had been able to proudly call herself one of his best friends ever since just a few months after they had met. He was nothing but overjoyed that she and Mawar had found each other, that Tom and Mika had too, that their friendship group fitted together so perfectly in every way.
“Wow,” Asher said quietly. “It’ll be good to see them. God, it’s been fucking ages since we were all together. The six musketeers together again. Not sure how long we’ll be six though.”
Lucas pursed his lips. “Well, it won’t be long before Mira and Mawar go back to the states and we’re only here for a couple of days.”
“Oh, no, not what I meant,” he said with a laugh. “I was just thinking about Tom and Mika – it’s only a matter of time before those two have a kid, I bet. They’ve been an old married couple since before they even got together.”
Lucas thought about it before he nodded. Although Tom and Mike were both younger than him, he was surprised that their relationship hadn’t hit the next level yet: they had been serious about each other since before they had made their relationship official, practically dating for years before they had had their first kiss.
“It’s probably only a matter of time before I have another cousin,” he said.
Asher frowned. He looked to the side before turning to Lucas, his lips pursed. “Wait, what?”
“Tom’s my uncle,” he said, which sometimes even he forgot. Their relationship had never been the same as Lucas’s with his aunts, Tom’s sisters, doomed that way when their birthdays were so close together.
“Oh shit, yeah. He is as well,” Asher said. “I always forget that.”
“Mmm. So when he and Mika get married, she’ll be aunt and their kids will be my cousins.”
Asher laughed, slipping his hand over Lucas’s. “God, I love your huge, crazy, complicated family,” he said, kissing his cheek, “and I count my blessings every day that I get to be a part of it.”
*
No sooner had the boys stepped into Coofee than they were attacked by Mira and Mawar who ran at them, almost knocking both of them over when they launched themselves across the café. They didn’t seem to care about putting on a spectacle for everyone else in the café, giving Evan and Gaia something to chuckle about behind the counter.
“It’s so fucking good to see you!” Mira cried out, holding on for a long and tight hug before she pulled the boys over to the table, tripping over her feet in her hurry to sit them down. “Oh my God, it’s been too long.”
Mawar was more demure in her greeting. She hugged Lucas first, the perfect kind of hug, and whispered her hello in his ear before she greeted Asher in the same way and the four of them sat down.
“I can’t believe you’re here,” Lucas said.
“As if you flew all the way out here,” Asher said, shaking his head. “God, it’s good to see you guys. How’s American treating you?” The question was directed at Mawar, who was still getting used to life in the states.
“Amazingly,” she said, her dimples deepening when she smiled. She had such a soft smile that always managed to make feel Lucas better, even if he was feeling good in the first place. “I love it so much. We couldn’t be happier.” She gazed at Mira with pure love in her eyes. “Oh, these are for you guys.”
She pushed a couple of drinks across the table: two extravagant hot chocolates, oozing cream onto their saucers. When she moved her hand, the light caught Lucas’s eye at a funny angle, forcing him to squint at wherever the reflection had come from. His eyes saucepanned, his breath hitching in his throat as he ogled the simple silver band on her finger.
“You’re married?” he spluttered, staring at her ring finger. His gaze shot over to Mira, who wore an identical ring. “What? Are you guys married?”
“What?” Asher looked up at Lucas. “What’re you on about?”
“You’re wearing wedding rings!” he cried out, ignoring Asher. It didn’t take him long to follow his boyfriend’s gaze, gawping when his eyes fell on the girls’ hands.
“Jesus Christ. You two got married already? What the fuck?”
Mawar cast her eyes down, her cheeks going pink. Mira laughed, slinging her arm around her shoulders.
“It’s kind of a … what can I say….”
“It’s a green card marriage,” Mawar said. “For now.” She looked over at Mira – her wife – and smiled. “It was very low-key, just at the courthouse with just Mira’s parents as witnesses – my visa was about to run out and we figured it’s going to happen eventually.”
“Shit,” Asher muttered. “So, wait, you are really married?”
“We are,” Mira said, tracing her fingers over Mawar’s shoulder, “but we’re going to do the whole ceremony and everything properly in … I don’t know, a few years probably. When we can afford to have a real party, and we can persuade you guys to come out.”
Lucas looked up when he had recovered enough from the shock revelation. “Do your parents know?” he asked Mawar, who gave him a smile and a nod.
“We told them before we did it,” she said. “Mum cried and Dad asked if we could wait until they could fly out, but we were kind of up against the clock. I told them it was literally just the official bit: we’re going to do it properly when we’re a bit older.” She chuckled, looking down at the ring. “I still feel like a kid. It’s crazy.”
“As if you got married,” Asher said. He still couldn’t believe it. “Was that really your only option?”
Mawar shrugged. “Kind of. It was that or come home and wait it out or reapply, and we’d talked about marriage and everything before.”
Mira kissed her and smiled. “A pretty great ultimatum, if you ask me. No way was I gonna let you slip back to England, honey.”
“Honey,” Asher said. “That’s cute.”
She raised her eyebrows. “Isn’t Lucas your honey?”
Lucas blushed at that. He and Asher had never really used pet names: he had found it a little awkward when they had been friends for so long before they had got together, never having called each other anything other than their names.
“He’s my babycakes,” Asher joked. “My little sweetcheeks. Isn’t that right?” He pinched Lucas’s cheek and kissed him, laughing when he grimaced. He hated those kinds of names, which Asher occasionally used just to tease him.
“Really?” Mawar pulled a face, looking from Asher to Lucas and back again. Asher laughed and shook his head.
“Nah. Our real nicknames aren’t quite suitable for a public place,” he said, giving her a knowing look. She spluttered a laugh; Lucas snorted and gave Asher a look.
“Oh my God,” Mira said, shaking her head. “Anyway … you guys are going to have to come out when we actually get married. We’ll, like, renew our vows and have the whole big ceremony and everything. You have to come to the states. We’d love for you to come to Michigan, wouldn’t we, hun?”
“Oh, absolutely!” Mawar nodded, her eyes sparkling.
“Well, as long as you give us six months’ notice,” Asher said, holding up his little finger to make a promise, “we’ll be there.”
*
At ten to three, the four of them stacked up their empties and followed the directions on Asher’s phone to the address that Tom had given them. The party was due to start on the hour: he had instructed them all to be there a few minutes early so they could be ready for Mika, insisting that they didn’t let it slip, but Lucas had his doubts that Tom had been able to hide the party from her. She was smart beyond smart: he was sure that even if she didn’t want to know, she probably did. Nothing got past her.
“Tom’s so cute,” Mira said as they walked, swinging her hand with Mawar’s. Even after a couple of hours catching up, sharing everything that had happened in the year or more that it had been since they had last seen each other. “Expectations are high for my next birthday, hun.”
Mawar let out a long sigh. “Time to start planning I guess.”
“Damn straight.”
Asher sidled closer to Lucas so that their elbows pressed together. “Speaking of birthdays,” he began, speaking slowly, “yours is next month. Whatcha wanna do, my darling angel butt?”
“I want to remove that from your vocabulary before it sticks,” Lucas muttered. Asher grinned and laughed, his fingers curling around his boyfriend’s.
The hall loomed up at the end of the high street, a beautiful Victorian building just past the church. They were cutting it fine, just a few minutes early, and Lucas upped his pace a little when the door came into sight. He hated to be late, or even on time: he usually made every effort to be at least ten minutes early – often fifteen – to whatever he was doing, whether that was a university lecture or a bus. But with Asher, Mira and Mawar, that was impossible. They had eked out every last minute at Coofee, only leaving when he had begged them not to make him late.
It was busy inside. Lucas caught his breath, overwhelmed by the crowd – most of whom he was related to. He spotted his grandparents across the room, his grandmother managing to look years younger than she was with the help of hair dye, a spot of make-up, and an exercise regimen she had taken up fairly late in life. His grandfather, however, had embraced his grey: he wore his hair long and proud, something of a silver fox as he aged.
It wasn’t long before Lucas was ambushed, almost knocked over by his sister. Audrie pulled him into a hug and kissed his cheek, grinning at Asher over her brother’s shoulder.
“You’re here at last! I figured when you weren’t here ten minutes ago that you weren’t coming!” She dropped back onto her heels, her cheeks glowing with her smile. Motherhood was a good colour on her, something it had taken her a while to realise. The first few months had been almost impossible at times but now her son, Theo, was seven months old and she and Cooper had just about grasped a handle of the fact that they were parents now.
“If I’d had my own way,” Lucas said with a dry laugh, glancing at Asher. “Is Tom here?”
Audrie pursed her lips. “He’s definitely around. I saw him earlier – he came and had a cuddle with Theo, then he went to talk to hammy and hara. He said Audrie will be here by five past, I think.” She checked her watch. “I don’t know if we’re supposed to hide or anything.”
Cooper came over, bouncing his whimpering son as he walked. He greeted the boys with a smile before he turned to his wife and said, “I think Theo hates me.” He kissed his baby’s head, burying his nose in his thick hair. Audrie took her son from him.
“He just hates that you don’t have breasts,” she said, discreetly adjusting her top and cradling her baby against her chest. He settled instantly and she smiled down as she swayed him. “Hey, did I see Mira and Mawar come in with you? I thought they were in America?”
“They were,” Lucas said. “They decided to come over for a couple of weeks and not tell anyone.” He scanned the room for his friends, though they seemed to have been absorbed into the crowd of Langleys and Tanakas and everyone in between. Mira was a social bunny who had befriended almost everyone in Farnleigh except her cousin, resting on her ties to Mawar and Lucas to find a link to anyone she met.
“That’s amazing,” Audrie said. “Have you seen Mum yet? She was asking if you were coming over.”
Lucas shook his head. He had yet to spot a single one of his siblings and his parents had eluded his line of sight so far. “Is she here?”
“Yup. Everyone is.” She looked up and laughed. “Seriously. Feels like half the town’s in here. Tom’s so cute, doing all this for Mika. They’re such a wonderful couple.”
“They’ve set the bar pretty high,” Asher said. “Not sure how I’m supposed to follow this for Lucas’s birthday. I’ve only got a month to figure it out.”
Audrie laughed. “Well, a sure-fire way to screw it up would be to do this,” she said. “He hates surprises. But you know that.” She tutted and shook her head to herself. “Sometimes I forget you’ve known Lucas longer than I have.”
“Wow,” Asher said. “Shit, yeah. That’s crazy.” He slipped his arm around Lucas’s waist and kissed his temple before their lips met. Lucas sank against him, comforted by his boyfriend’s touch when the sheer number of people in the hall was beginning to overwhelm him a little. He already wasn’t sure how long he would make it, vowing to at least see Tom and Mika before he needed to grab a little fresh air.
“Nearly nineteen years, right?” Audrie raised her eyebrows as she did the maths. “Oh my goodness, as if you’ve known each other nearly two decades.” She leant back against her husband, who sloped his arm around her shoulders. “And here I am feeling old when I realise it’s nine years since Coop and I met.”
“And now you have a baby,” Lucas murmured. He reached out to curl a lock of Theo’s hair around his finger, a faint smile resting on his lips as he looked down at his nephew. Seeing his sister become a mother had forced him to think about his own future, contemplating whether or not he ever wanted to be a father. That wasn’t a question he was ready to answer yet.
“And now we have a baby,” Audrie echoed. She tipped her head back against Cooper’s chest to look up at him. He smiled down at her and kissed her forehead, brushing her hair behind her ear. Lucas watched them for a moment before he caught sight of Tom out of the corner of his eye and he pulled away, excusing himself to catch his uncle.
“Tom!” he called out. Tom stopped in his tracks, looking out for the source of his name, and he smiled when he saw Lucas and Asher.
“You’re here!” He hugged him tightly. “I was looking for you. I just saw Mira and Mawar. I had no idea they’d be here.”
“It’s crazy. They surprised us too,” Asher said.
“It’s so nice to see them. Mika will be so happy they’re here. I can’t wait for her to get here.” He seemed a little on edge, his eyes flitting around the room as he wrung his wrists.
“When is that?” Lucas asked.
“A couple of minutes,” he said. “I’ll turn down the lights when she’s outside so I’m just trying to pass around the message to be quiet when she gets here. I just want to make sure everyone’s here before we do anything. I was going to stall until you and Asher got here but here you are.” He hugged Lucas again, more vocal and emphatic than he ever ordinarily was. His obvious nerves seemed to bring conversation as they flowed.
“We’ll catch up later,” Lucas said. “Asher and I are here all weekend. We’ll see you after the party.”
Tom nodded, his movements quick and distracted. “Yes, yes. Good. Ok. I think we’re all set here. I wish I could just get everyone’s attention at once.”
Asher stepped up at that, knowing that neither Tom nor Lucas would ever command the attention of a crowd without crumbling under the pressure. “I can help you out there,” he said. He pulled over a chair and stood up, clapping couple of times until all eyes were on him. “Alright, everyone! Birthday girl’s nearly here so as soon as the lights go out, you’ve got to zip it. Don’t do a thing or say a word until the lights come on again. Capisce?”
There were nods and murmurs of affirmation. Tom gave Asher an appreciative thumbs up before he slipped out of the hall and turned off the lights on his way, plunging the room into darkness. Everybody fell quiet. Lucas reached out for Asher’s hand in the dark, swallowing the building nerves in his chest. Parties really weren’t his scene, even if they weren’t for him. He held onto Asher tightly, soothed by the way Asher periodically squeezed his fingers to slow down his pulse. That was one of many physical cues they had developed when words wouldn’t do, when sight wouldn’t suffice.
The silence lasted a full minute. It continued into the second, standing in the darkness with what must have been sixty other people holding their breath, waiting to yell out a chorus of surprise when the lights illuminated Mika’s shock.
There was a bit of shuffling, the door opening a crack before it closed again, but the lights remained off. Lucas closed his eyes, shutting himself off in his own mind and shuffling closer to Asher. He began to count up from one in his head, distracting himself with the stream of numbers that carried on all the way to forty-two until the lights flew on, his eyes snapping open.
Mika wasn’t standing by the door looking surprised. Rather, she and Tom stood hand in hand on the stage at the front of the hall. He had added a jacket and tie to his shirt; she wore a simple white dress that hung to the floor. Nobody uttered a word, too stunned to speak. Lucas’s eyes widened when he realised what he was looking at, instantly seeking out his grandparents in the crowd. Maddie stood with her hand clasped over her mouth, her husband looking just as shocked beside her. By the looks of it, nobody had been in on the surprise, a total misdirect that Tom had carried off.
He cleared his throat, clearly a little nervous with his entire family and all his friends staring at him, trying to decipher what exactly was going on. “Thank you all for coming today,” he said. “Mika and I are very excited to share this day with you all.” He held her hand and smiled at her. Her gaze seemed to quell the quiver in his voice.
Mika beamed, the most contagious smile Lucas had ever seen. She laughed to see everyone in her life so speechless. Her mother was on the verge of fainting, her sister caught between shock and outrage that she hadn’t been consulted. Tom’s sisters stood in various states of shock: Lucas spotted his mother at last, who looked like a rabbit caught in the headlights with her eyes so wide that her entire iris was visible.
Tom took a deep breath before he took Mika’s hand and said, “Welcome to our wedding.”
Mika wiggled her free hand and grinned. “Surprise!”
+ – + – +
wedding bells all around!
i hope you enjoyed this chapter! sorry for the delay getting this out – i intended to have it done before the weekend but i didn’t quite make it and i was with family from friday morning through to sunday night.
(i also made it to wattpad hq at last and signed the stars wall! no idea how some people did it so neatly – it’s not easy writing at that angle)
Comment