Reaching for Stardust // Josh Kiszka

Part IX

Word Count: ~3600

Warnings: sexy time

A/N: I always have a lot of writing all the boys into these series. Hope you enjoy <3

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It felt as though I had permanent butterflies in my stomach since Josh proposed. Every time I looked at my ring, the diamond like a brilliant little piece of the moon and the tiny blue stars surrounding it, those invisible butterflies fluttered with even more fervor, and I had trouble concentrating on anything but the wedding. Josh and I set a date that same night at the beach–January 18th–and since then I'd begun writing a list of everything I needed to do step by step.

First, we had to tell everyone. We told the boys together when we were able to reconvene in person and my butterflies were scattering like mad when we did. But their three individual reactions were so amusing to me that they erased a good chunk of the nerves–Danny first looked surprised, wide-eyed and mystified in the dim, warm light of the bustling restaurant, until Sam reached across the booth we were sitting in to smack Josh on the arm. Then they both burst into huge grins and jovial cheers while Jake said "wow," smiled in his own quiet way and asked to look more closely at the ring.

Though I'd been a part of their lives for years, there had still been a part of me that worried they'd object to this no matter everything they'd said to assure me of the opposite. But the celebrations began instantly, with Jake ordering all of us drinks and appetizers and being the first one to make a poetic but concise toast, to which Sam said it'd been long enough and Danny asked if we'd set a date.

"January," I told him. "January 18th."

"So soon," Danny said.

"Not really," Josh replied, taking a sip of his whiskey, and I knew he was saying that in part just to keep me calm as well as keep all of them calm. It felt like all this time would go by in the blink of an eye. "About seven months. Plenty of time."

"I've never been a groomsman before," Sam mused, grinning, looking positively lethal and beautiful, just as any Kiszka or Wagner groomsman should be, I thought. "This wedding is going to be a riot."

"Is that a warning?" I asked with a laugh.

"It's a promise. It's the first wedding of our group–it has to be absolutely outlandish."

"You and Danny will be next," I joked, and Danny snorted.

"Yeah, right," Danny was quick to say. "You think Sam would ever let anyone lock him down?"

"Rude," Sam replied with a scoff and leaned against Danny's shoulder. "I'm a total catch, just hard to catch and keep."

"Jake will be the best man, of course," Josh interjected, smiling at his twin who was caught between the two bickering boys and the window. "And there's three of you, so there will be three bridesmaids to match."

"Well, one maid of honor, two bridesmaids," I added. "Kirsti, obviously, Bev and Jane."

"Jane?" Jake repeated, eyebrows rising.

I was going to inquire about that curious look on his face until Sam said, "Oh, right. Only three–I forgot you have no friends."

"Now who's the rude one?" Despite that, I laughed again, already a little buzzed from the emotional reveal and the bit of tequila twirling in my stomach. "We're trying to keep it small anyway. Close friends and family only."

"Is Bev okay with us being corresponding members of the party or whatever?" Sam took a drink and leaned back, lying his arm back across the booth behind Danny. "We did date–or whatever–for a little while."