Growing Up and Other Tall Tales

Epilogue

"Good evening everyone." I say into the microphone. "I trust that you're having a superb night racking up the bar tab."

Scattered laughter brings everyone's attention to me.

"For those who don't know me. I'm Aiden, the best-man, and for those who do know me, I apologize." I hear Ace and Cain boo at me from their tables. "If anyone has any grievances, I suggest you leave it with the happy couple with your name and however I may have offended you." Missy snorts out loud at that.

"As the designated asshole of the trio, I want to thank everyone here today because despite my best efforts, today went off without a hitch." Sandy chortles into his palm. "As everyone here is aware, I am friends with both the groom and the bride so I really can't place either on a pedestal. They are both truly awful and I can't believe they are going to make me third-wheel forever."

Everyone laughed and I watched as Sandy take Missy's hand. I continue. "And I hope that that will never change." I look at the crowd, "I can spend hours up here talking about the stupidest shit they've done and honestly have the time of my life doing so, but I won't because I have a drink bill to hand over which will definitely make Sandy and Missy cry even if my speech doesn't." I pause at the laughter that ensues and chuckle a bit myself. I look up. "I will instead talk about what they mean to me because I don't dare to figure out what they mean to each other."

Missy leans into Sandy. I watch them. Like I have my whole life.

"Missy and Sandy have always been two people I've looked up to in life. Missy; for her brilliant fierceness, unrelenting severity and just generally being an absolute force of nature." I don't look at her. "From Sandy I learnt how to be a man: how to be strong and vulnerable, how to be powerful and caring, and although I might be a little bit of a bitch sometimes," Sandy shrugs, "I am grateful to you both, to us. I remember the day I found out about the two of you and the instant and paralyzing fear of being left behind, again. I tried to be genuinely angry about it, but I soon realized that there is no one more imperfect for each other than the two of you." I look over at them and I see tears streaking in competitive tracks down Sandy's face and Missy is determinedly hiding her face. I don't know who she's trying to kid here; the jig is up: she's the biggest fucking sap.

I look at them and then I look at Lyra who is sitting in a couple of feet away from me, practically glowing under the lights.

"We did pretty good. Cheers."

I raise my glass to notice startlingly that almost everyone is dabbing their faces with napkins or are valiantly trying to swallow emotion. I look at Lyra who is subtly trying to wipe away the corner of her eye and I know she will vehemently deny shedding a tear even at gun point so I don't make fun of her.

She raises a small thumbs up at me and mouths: "Not bad."

When we do finally catch a moment for ourselves, we decide to take it outside. The wedding is arriving at its classy end and its drunken start.

I walk ahead of Aiden, trying to find a place for us to sit when he grabs me by the wrist and turns me around. The hiccup in my heart that follows is familiar.

"Miss me?" he asks cheekily knowing fully well that I did

"Not as much as you missed me." I say

He looks at me, obviously to say something back but his gaze skips over my shoulder, before it returns to me.

"Your sunset is here," he says and I can't look away

"I like you more than sunsets, Aiden Romanov,"

He opens his mouth immediately to retort when he realizes that I am not making a jab at him. He closes it slowly and leans forward to brush his nose down the slope of mine. My eyes flutter close, and I felt like I could trade all the sunsets in the world to stay right here. But I won't, because we can't always be like this. And we will live each moment for it and cherish every sunset when it comes.

"I like your iced tea," he tells me

I raise my eyebrows and he laughs in my ear. The air vibrates happily around him.

"I thought we were both saying things that are overtly romantic that we don't really mean,"

Making an offended noise and punching him at the shoulder for good measure, I turn around viciously, trying to break away from him. He chortles out his dishonest apologies in between his laughter as he tightens his grip at my waist. I give up fighting and fall back against him watching the sun positively melt into the arms of the sea and the world decay into an indigo darkness.

"People are just as wonderful as sunsets if you let them be. When I look at a sunset, I don't find myself saying, 'Soften the orange a bit on the right hand corner.' I don't try to control a sunset. I watch with awe as it unfolds."

-Carl Rogers