Like Orion & Spark

Epilogue - Part I

– ELEVEN YEARS LATER –

Kid, sometimes you reflect on the past and wonder how you ended up there.

I leaned over the hotel mirror, inspecting my hair in the glass. My fingers kept fiddling with the buttons on my tuxedo, and I kept thinking about the path leading me to right now. For years, getting married wasn't possible, so I had never gotten hung up over it. I loved Kieran endlessly, whether we were legally together or not. When the concept became reality, I was ready.

A knock on the door interrupted my thoughts.

"It's Halley," her voice called through the doorway.

I reached for the doorknob and twisted. Halley had changed into her soft blue dress—with a circular strap around her neck which dropped to a cinched waist. It was an elegant dress, flowing down to her ankles. Her raven hair curled at the ends, bouncing as she shuffled into the room.

"You aren't ready yet," she noticed.

I gestured to the bed, where I'd placed my collection of ties and a bow tie. "I'm having a minor crisis."

"Don't tell me." She glanced through the windowsill, to the passing cars hurtling to their destinations. Both Kieran and I were in different rooms, but neither of us overlooked the venue. "If you're planning on running, don't. I'll tackle you."

"I'm not running, Halley. Stop trying to freak me out." I held the bow tie up and swapped it with the ties—black, white, and navy blue. "Just help me decide."

She pointed to the white tie. "That one."

I arched an eyebrow. "That was fast. What do you know that I don't?"

She moved to kick me. The pointy edge of her heels dug into my shoes. "Trust me on this one."

Compared to the rest of my black outfit, the splash of white made me look vaguely like a checkerboard. With a speed only Halley possessed, she rummaged through her purse and dumped its contents onto the table.

"Here." She waved a wand covered in something that looked like a sandy-coloured liquid. "Let me put this on your face."

"What the hell is that?" I said.

She sighed heavily, dabbing the wand underneath my eyes. "Concealer, and then I'm putting on some foundation."

I hadn't the faintest clue what those words meant. "I'd imagine you just did this to Kieran then."

"No, but he doesn't look like he just woke up," she said plainly, dabbing my face with a brush. Once she was finished, I had to admit I looked a lot less tired. My under-eye bags had vanished.

"There we go," Halley declared. "I'm going downstairs again, and then I'll be back. In the meantime, drink some water or whatever."

And she disappeared into the hallway. Halley could probably tell I was stressed, but mostly because wedding planning hadn't been easy. It took quite a while to find a location and someone to officiate. In the end, we'd chosen to hold the ceremony at the boardwalk just outside Astral City; the same place Kieran had taken me all those years ago.