AIN'T TALKIN' 'BOUT LOVE

EPILOGUE - CRYSTAL by FLEETWOOD MAC

They could hear the children being called home for dinner as the sun set over Lake Como. Their shiny, black patent leather shoes scuffed against the uneven flagstones in the dusty street and the only thing that felt unchanging was each other's hand in the others'. Farlan and Isabel walked behind them, murmuring to one another, their quiet laughter like shimmering bells in the failing light. The air was warm, but the breeze cooled the sweat on their foreheads, as they ambled slowly toward the restaurant on the hill, their suit jackets hanging over their arms.

It had been a whirlwind since they decided to marry in Como, having fallen in love with the bustling city below the emerald hills. The blue of the water felt like eternity and it seemed right to tie their fates together in such a stunningly beautiful place such as this.

Isabel and Farlan flew in to be their witnesses, and there was nothing left to do once the two took matters into their own hands. They were married in a small white chapel close to the water in a park full of sleepy willows. Isabel draped and wove a red velvet ribbon around their hands and she and Farlan flanked their handsome friends near a window looking out over the lakes as a small, rosy Italian woman blessed their love. It was a quiet and holy moment that stretched before them, that shone briefly on the rocky expanse of their time together so far and out into the quiet night before them and the life yet to come.

Their gold rings shone in the light of the lamps they passed, climbing the hill to where the sound of music and clinking glasses awaited them. Isabel had found the place and made a reservation for four in a small room off to the side of the main dining room where Farlan could play his guitar and they could sing and dance the night away.

Eren and Levi waited for their friends on the balcony of the rooms appreciating the strip of gold melding into the indigo water on the horizon. Neither needed to speak. Breathing next to each other felt like enough. There was time enough to put into words the swell of sweetness pulling between them. But it was the furrow of Levi's brow that pushed Eren to ask. There was a tiny sadness...a melancholy weighing around him, that made the moment feel bittersweet.

"What is it, my love," Eren whispered. To speak aloud would have banished the wetness around the edges of Levi's eyes.

Levi pressed his lips together and shook his head imperceptibly. "I," he began, then stopped. Eren squeezed his hand and waited for the man to find his words.

He cleared his throat and looked up into his husband's eyes. "I guess I thought that I always wanted this moment to be quiet, just the two of us. I'm glad that Iz and Far came, because what I really want to do is be as loud as I possibly can." He huffed a laugh and his voice grew bigger. "I want to shout to everyone around me that you're mine." He smiled. "I didn't expect to feel this way."

Eren rushed into his arms and giggled. "I feel the same way. It seemed like it fit our relationship, after so much noise in and around us, in the beginning, that a quiet ceremony was what would be best, but now? I'd like to yell with you!"

They held each other for a while, Levi stroking Eren's hair. Levi was the first to speak in the dappling light of the oil lamp. "It's just that my whole life I've been lonely, thinking I was alone. That I had to be alone. So that I wouldn't hurt anyone and they wouldn't hurt me, but I was wrong. Farlan, Hange, Erwin and Isabel have always loved me, and I've kept them at arm's length, and why? To feel safe? I've wasted so much time with them, and now, to have left them out of this moment just breaks my heart."

Before Eren could respond, Farlan called to them. "Alright, you two, come inside."

"Yeah, if we leave you two alone for too long, you'll analyze the shit out of a lovely day," laughed Isabel. She walked to them and took their hands. "And it has been such a lovely day, hasn't it?" She beamed at them.