Alchemy •Dan Smith•

thirty seven

It's been months, months spent with Dan and Ralph as we inched closer to the end of the year. Finals were coming to an end, and the only stress that seemed to be weighing on my mind was football training and summer. Two things that weren't a good mix in my eyes.

I had been running every morning before lectures or sometimes twice a day when I wasn't too tired after a shift at the cafe.

I wasn't the only one effected by the stresses of the year coming to a close, Dan's eyes held bags under them and a tired stare. Ralph had settled for not shaving, causing a beard to start to take place. Something that actually suited him quite well.

Dan didn't shave much, so stubble became part of his look for a while. Something that I didn't disagree with at all, he looked delectable. That and he had cut his hair, which wasn't noticeable until he mentioned something about it. He still had the Afro thing going for him, and it made him look cute. Something I'm sure I was not.

.•*.•*.•**•.*•.*•.

"We made it!" Daniel hollered, wrapping his arms around my waist from behind. I smiled, leaning back into him.

"Yeah, we did. Just one more year, yeah?"

I felt his head nod as it was placed an top of my own. "Where is Ralph? I really could do with some drinks right now."

I shrugged my shoulders before looking around. We stood in front of the main building, which was currently filled with others who were hugging and cheering just like us.

We looked around, still conjoined with Dan's arm slung around my waist, before Ralph finally came into view. He had a large smile on his cleanly shaven face and arms wide. I escaped from Dan's grip and raced towards Ralph as fast as my skinny jean clad legs would allow.

Over the past months, Ralph and I had gotten closer, not as close as Dan and I (or in the same sense), but close. He was like an older brother, and a better brother than the one I was bonded with only though blood.

I embraced him, feeling his arms wrap around my shoulders. Right as a was going to pull away, a presence came from behind me, forcing me into Ralph again. I soon realized it was Dan, when his voice mused, "We are one big happy family."

I felt happy, in that moment, squished between the two men I had grown to love more than myself.