Shine - Part Eighteen
This episode is part of a larger story, Soft Touch. If you haven’t yet, you can go back and read it from the beginning right here.
I step out into the front garden, then break into a slow, relieved smile when my eyes fall on the sight before me.
Noah is out there, standing surrounded by flowers. Holding a deeply asleep Nikita, whose mouth is slightly open, her cheek smushed against his chest. Her soft black hair is standing up in little windblown tufts, her breathing slow and sleepy.
Noah, on the other hand, looks wide awake.
It’s a breezy, sunlit spring morning, and he’s taking deep breaths of the crisp air. Yesterday was exhausting, but we all slept in late, and Noah looks well-rested. Glowing, almost.
He’s got a serene, subtle smile on his face. His head is tipped back to look up at the vivid blue sky, which is smudged with white clouds.
The sky of his wedding day.
I go to stand beside him, and he drops his grey eyes to me. We exchange a small, warm smile with each other, one that puts dimples at the corners of Noah’s mouth.
We both let out a soft laugh, turning our eyes back to the brilliant late morning sky.
Noah is very quiet, but full of happiness. Overflowing with it. It’s almost radiating from him. Contagious.
He looks over his shoulder as Raj opens the door of our house. Raj stares at Noah, lets out a huge, relieved breath, then crosses the garden to join us.
“Hey.” He takes Noah by the back of his neck and presses a kiss onto his forehead. “Where’d you run off to? I thought we were coming over here together. You had us worried.”
“Yeah, I’m sorry, I…” Noah drops his gaze, his warm smile fading away, his grey eyes growing darker. “Went to my sister’s house. Thought I’d try one more time.”
My own smile falls away.
Noah explained to me yesterday that he, Mel, and Raj decided that they would each invite one family member to the wedding. It’s what makes the most sense. Mel’s only family is her mom, and while Raj has a huge family, almost all of them live out in Hawai’i. Getting them all to Ketterbridge would be insanely expensive, so he only invited his cousin Chahna, who lives much closer. It was her little beach house we stayed at for the proposal.
“We’ll celebrate with Raj’s whole family later,” Noah told me, and then, with a small smile - “We’re talking about going to Hawai’i for our honeymoon, eventually.”
But Chahna will be there for Raj at the wedding today, and Mel’s mom will be there for her.
Noah’s sister is the only one who didn’t RSVP.
“I didn’t plan to go over there,” Noah tells Raj, a suffering look flashing through his eyes. “But I just - thought… thought maybe if I went and tried to talk to her in person…. but she wasn’t home. I waited for like, an hour. She didn’t come back.”
Raj stares at Noah for a second, then lets out a relieved laugh. Noah blinks at him, startled and confused.
“Oh, my god - Noah.” Raj takes the hand that Noah doesn’t have tucked around Nik, then looks earnestly into his grey eyes. “She’s not home because she’s with Mel!”
Noah freezes. He gives Raj a blank stare, uncomprehending.
“Mel’s been working on her for like, two weeks!” Raj explains in a rush, hastily taking Nik from Noah. He checks his watch, then looks up at the garden gate. “The two of them have been getting coffee together, talking about how you’ve changed - Mel finally convinced her to come to the wedding like, yesterday. It was gonna be a surprise!”
Noah’s eyes are getting wider and wider. “Are you s-?”
“Yes, man, Mel is gonna drop her off any second to say hi before the w-”
Raj breaks off as the round green gate is pushed open. We all whip around to face it, right as someone steps through it.
I’ve seen a picture of Noah’s sister before. Noah has one out on the dresser in his bedroom. They were both little kids in that photo, holding starter surfboards - but I recognize her instantly anyways.
She has sea-grey eyes, and long, flowing black hair like Noah’s. A fringe of sleek bangs across her forehead. She’s wearing a silvery grey top tucked into loose-fitting, high-waisted leather pants, and a simple sapphire-colored stud in each ear. She’s tall and slender, but not quite as tall as him, and completely without tattoos. Without makeup, too, aside from the dark red gloss on her lips.
She stops with her hand on the gate when she sees Noah, staring at him. He stares back at her, frozen to the spot.
There’s a tense, motionless silence in the garden.
Raj hesitates, then quietly disappears with Nik through the green passageway. Presumably off to say hi to Mel.
I glance nervously at the house, wondering if I should go back inside. But before I can move, Noah does.
He slowly, silently crosses to his sister and stops before her. He looks down at her with enormous, stunned eyes.
“Noelle,” he says happily, a wide smile spreading across his face.
She breaks into a dark scowl, curls her hands into fists, and goes off.
At least, that’s what I think she’s doing. I can’t understand anything she’s saying, given that it’s all in rapidfire French. But it definitely looks to me like Noah is getting a sharp scolding. Noelle is glaring up at him as she speaks, gesturing a lot, stabbing an accusing finger at his chest.
I press my fingers over my mouth, suddenly afraid that Noelle only agreed to this so she could tell Noah off to his face. I would be cowering, getting told off like that, but - Noah isn’t.
Honestly, he looks so happy to see Noelle that I’m not sure he’s even hearing a word she’s saying. He goes on beaming down at her in delight and amazement, like he can’t believe she’s standing there.
Noelle is trying not to look at the giant smile on his face, to keep her grey eyes on his. But his smile is shining out through his eyes, too. Impossible not to see.
Noelle’s words start to slow down. Suddenly it seems like she’s battling to keep the anger on her face and in her voice. Her frown twitches as she fights down a smile.
She shakes her head like she’s immensely frustrated, trying to hold her expression - then lets out a helpless laugh, dropping her face into her hands.
Noah laughs, too, still grinning happily.
Noelle stops and takes a breath before she looks up at him again. She takes his jaw in her hand, sweeps a critical eye over her little brother.
She nibbles her lip, then says, more quietly - “Ça va?”
Noah nods, smiling widely, and Noelle lets out a breath.
“You’re coming to my wedding?” Noah asks, his voice thin with disbelief.
Noelle hesitates, then nods. Noah slowly tips his head back, beaming, then tips forward and drops his forehead onto her shoulder.
Noelle laughs and rolls her eyes, but winds an arm around him, gives the side of his tattooed neck an affectionate slap.
“You’re a mess, Noah,” she tells him, tossing her bangs out of her eyes. “As always.”
“Only ‘cause you’re here,” Noah answers, in a rough voice. “I didn’t think you were gonna come.”
“I’ve had some long talks with Melanie.” Noelle releases Noah, lets him straighten up. “I can tell that she’s too smart to have gotten mixed up with you, if you were still how you were before.”
“Not gonna argue with that.” Noah winces, a guilty look in his eyes. “Noelle, the - the way I was acting, before-”
“We can talk about all of that later,” she interrupts firmly. “Tonight is for celebration.”
Noah blinks at her, then slowly breaks back into a relieved, happy grin.
“Pour plein de raisons,” he answers.
Noelle gives him a small smile, then pinches his cheek. She turns and heads for the green gate again.
“See you there,” she says over her shoulder, before she slips through it.
Noah stands there, silently staring after her. He doesn’t move until Raj comes back through the gateway, holding Nikita to his chest.
Raj is clearly concerned that it might have gone badly with Noelle. He puts Nik right back into Noah’s arms, as if he might need her.
“Everything okay?” he asks softly, tugging gently on a strand of Noah’s long hair.
“Yeah, everything - everything’s perfect.” Noah lets out a long, slow breath, then tips forward to rest his forehead against Raj’s. “Thank you.”
Raj smiles, and I do the same from behind Noah, my shoulders drooping with relief.
Ralph steps through the rounded gateway, then stops in the pool of cool green shadow it’s casting over the sunlit garden.
“Hey.” He pushes his blonde hair out of his face, shifts the strap of his bag across his chest. “Am I late?”
“No, man, you’re right on time,” I answer brightly, beckoning him closer.
Noah looks down at Nik, then up at Ralph.
“Hey, Ralph,” he calls. “Come meet my little girl.”
Ralph blinks in surprise, his sage green eyes dropping to Nik. “I - really?”
“Yeah, c’mere.”
“Mel just fed her in the car,” Raj tells Noah. “She’s milk drunk.”
“Oh, is that true, baby?” Noah snickers, shifting her against his chest so he can see her face. “Are you blitzed?”
I let out a startled laugh when I get a glimpse of Nik’s face. She really does look drunk. She’s blinking slowly and dazedly, her eyelids heavy, her mouth slightly open.
Ralph stops beside Noah, then looks uncertainly down at Nik, fiddling with his leather wristbands.
“She’s - cute,” he says uneasily.
“She might throw up on you,” Noah warns him.
“I don’t care, dude, so long as she doesn’t hate me.” Ralph draws back a little, looking down at Nik in alarm as she wrinkles her nose at him. “Is she gonna start crying?”
“So nervous, Ralph,” I laugh, cuffing his arm. “The Warlord is intimidated by a baby, huh?”
Ralph casts me a dark glare. “Go on, Keane. Keep talking. See if you don’t find yourself picking your teeth up off the ground.”
“On that lovely note,” Noah snickers, then carefully hands Nik over to Ralph. “Here, keep her upright. And support her head, yeah?”
“What-?” Ralph blinks hard at Noah, caught off-guard. But he gingerly takes Nik into his hands, settles her into his arms. “Oh, okay, um-”
Nik cuddles up against the front of Ralph’s shoulder, grasps a tight handful of his threadbare shirt, and blinks up at him curiously. Ralph hesitates, then playfully taps her nose with a fingertip.
Nik instantly seizes his finger and stuffs it in her tiny mouth. Ralph blinks in surprise, then lets out a quiet laugh, gazing down at her.
“Think she’s - trying to bite me?”
“She’s trying to bite everything, lately,” Raj says affectionately.
“That’s your dad’s brother,” Noah informs Nikita, pointing to Ralph. “So - your uncle, I guess. Tonton.”
Nik looks at Noah, then turns her wide, wondering eyes back to Ralph. Ralph stares at Noah, too, then looks down at Nik.
“Is there - a way to make her laugh?” he asks suddenly.
Noah, Raj, and I exchange a surprised glance.
“Sure, bro, easy,” Raj answers. “Just laugh first, she’ll start doing it, too.”
Ralph blinks at Raj, then shifts uneasily. Apparently he can’t laugh without help, because he stares at Raj like he’s waiting for further, more specific instructions.
“Like this, dude.” Raj leans down to be eye-level with Nik, then begins to laugh. “Hey, baby! Wanna laugh with dad?”
She smiles at him, then giggles, then lets out a loud squeal of baby laughter, her tiny legs kicking excitedly in Ralph’s arms. It’s such a sweet, contagious sound that Noah and I instantly start laughing, too.
Nik’s laughter redoubles, her little voice broken up by the hiccuping sound of her gasping in sharp, giggling breaths.
Ralph breaks into a slow smile, then laughs, too. Nik lets out a squeak, and then another burst of giggles as he shifts her closer in his arms, accidentally tickling her.
She stuffs her own fist into her mouth, then cuddles the side of her face against Ralph’s chest, lets out a sleepy little breath.
Ralph stares down at her for a moment, then looks up at Noah, opens his mouth to say something. Before he can, a sudden wave of music comes from the house.
A relaxed reggae beat, Raj’s preferred sound. He breaks into a bright smile as soon as he hears it.
“Sounds like Aiden’s got the music going,” I tell the others. “He’s got some food going, too, which means the pre-wedding kickback is officially getting started.”
Right on time, too. The sunlight is starting to turn golden with the coming afternoon.
Noah frowns as I slip the car keys out of my pocket. “You’re not leaving, are you?”
“I’ve gotta go to your house and set up the flowers.” I pause, taking in the look on Noah’s face, then let out a laugh. “I’ll be back soon, man. Honestly.”
Noah breaks back into a smile. Everyone calls out their goodbyes as I turn around and head for the green gate.
“Want me to take her back?” I hear Noah ask Ralph, as they all set off towards the house.
“Nah, I’ve got her,” Ralph answers, just before the gate swings shut after me.
Smiling to myself, I walk slowly down the sunlit green passageway, then speed up a little when I hear voices on the other end of it.
Ripley is near the entrance, his backpack on his shoulder. His mom has her hands in his green curls, which she’s trying to organize.
“-know that kids your age want to drink at events like this,” she’s telling him, as he bounces impatiently on his heels. “But just remember to be responsible with it, and to call me if there’s an emergency-”
Ripley lets out an agonized groan. “Mom.”
“Okay, okay, go on!” She gives up on his curls, which instantly spring back to their usual messiness. “See you tomorrow! I love you! Be a good boy, offer to help!”
He’s already bounding over to me. “I will, I love you too, love you lots, bye!”
I let out a laugh as Ripley stops at my side. We both wave to his mom, who smiles and waves back before she disappears into her car.
“Glad you’re the only one who saw that,” Ripley says, his cheeks a burning shade of red.
“Not so,” Ralph snickers from behind me, startling the hell out of me.
“Jesus Christ!” I sputter, pressing a hand over my chest. “When did you get here?”
“No,” Ripley groans, tipping his head back.
Ralph turns around the camera in his hands. “Got a picture and everything.”
It’s actually a very sweet picture, Ripley’s mom gently and affectionately fixing his hair.
“Aw!” I blurt out, and Ripley presses his palms over his eyes.
“Is everybody here, Jamie?” he asks, trying to blow right past that.
“Yep, you can go in.”
“Be a good boy,” Ralph tells him, very seriously. “Offer to help.”
Ripley gives Ralph a middle finger before he sets off through the passageway, but I can hear the two of them laughing a moment later as they walk together through it.
I take a deep, happy breath, then set off again.
The van from the flower shop is parked behind my car. Aiden and I loaded everything up this morning, except for what needs to stay at our house for now.
I’ve only just gotten the keys in the ignition when someone knocks on the window. I glance up in surprise, then smile when I see Aiden bending to look through the window. I roll it down and lean out through it to give him a kiss, which he eagerly reciprocates.
“Came to say bye?” I ask, running my palm over his stubbled jaw. “You know I’ve gotta go set up the flowers.”
“Actually, came to offer my services.” He folds his elbows on the van window. “I’ve seen you try to lift things, Keane. So. I know you need help.”
I let out an indignant laugh, then toss my head at the passenger’s seat. Aiden smiles warmly, brushes a kiss onto my nose before he bounds around the van to hop in with me.
“Let’s hope nothing stupid has happened to our house by the time we get back,” I tell him. “Leaving those four alone.”
Aiden huffs out a laugh.
“Let’s hope.”
~~~~
“What I want to know,” I say slowly, pressing my fingertips to my temples, “Is how did it happen?”
I just came downstairs, and I was about to go rejoin everyone outside, but through the window I caught a glimpse of Raj and Ripley standing in the back garden, gazing up at the roof of the house. Raj was laughing, and Ripley was hiding a giant grin behind his colorful fingers.
My instant concern was that Noah, for some godforsaken reason, was up on the roof. But as soon as I leaned closer to the window, I caught sight of Noah by Ripley’s side. Ralph and Aiden were there, too, and all of them looked like they were trying not to laugh.
Now that I’ve joined them outside, I want an explanation.
I stand beside Aiden, staring up at the roof of our house. I can just make out the soccer ball wedged between two angled sections of the roof.
“I was inside for five minutes,” I groan. “Five fucking minutes, and this happens!”
“Noah got it stuck up there,” Raj explains, pointing at the soccer ball. “I bet him ten bucks that he couldn’t kick the ball clean over your house-”
“You brought this down on us, dude,” Ripley laughs.
“-and now it’s up there, and we can’t get it down.”
I press my fingers to my cheeks, staring up at the soccer ball. “Is that the thump I just heard when I was upstairs?”
“Aiden, get it down,” Noah says, nudging his arm. “Aren’t you pretty much eye level with it right now, man? Just reach out and grab it.”
Aiden swats at Noah, who ducks neatly, then swerves to put Ralph between himself and Aiden.
“Anyways, we’ve been having a pretty lively debate about the best way to get it down,” Raj informs me.
“One of us needs to go up there and get it, obviously.” Noah knots his hair into a bun. “So, let me ask. Who among us is the most incredible, brilliant, talented-”
“Jamie,” Aiden answers instantly.
“-athlete?”
“Oh,” Aiden says. “Not Jamie, then.”
I give Aiden the darkest look I can manage, and he smiles down at me like I’m adorable.
“Anyways, the obvious answer to that question is Aiden,” Noah continues, “But my mans would go through that roof and end up in the living room. Which means it’s me. Although I’ll be damned if I know how I’m getting up there. Oh! You know what we need? One of those, um - sproing things. The sproing - sproing-”
Noah makes a bouncing sort of gesture with his inky hands.
“Anyone got a guess?” Ripley laughs.
“A - pogo stick, maybe?” Raj tries, and Noah beams at him.
“Yes, man! We need a pogo stick. That might not get us high enough, though. That’s what somebody needs to invent, a pogo stick that just really blasts you up into the air. Real shit.”
Ralph lets out an abrupt laugh, dropping his head. “God, Noah, the mental image of you doing that is - just-”
“He’s right,” Raj tells Noah. “It’d probably look mad stupid. Is there a way to make a pogo stick look badass?”
“Same way you make anything look more badass, dude,” Noah answers confidently. “Add a weapon. Slap one on the pogo stick, so people take you seriously. A knife, or something. I dunno.”
I turn to fix Noah with an incredulous stare. “You think people would take a man on a pogo stick covered with knives seriously?”
“I think they’d have to, dude.”
“Yeah,” Ripley laughs, pressing his paint-stained fingers over his mouth. “But not for the reason you’re thinking, Noah.”
“Billion dollar idea, this.” Aiden lets out a deep chuckle. “A pogo stick, but now wildly out of control, and with knives.”
“Ralph, you’re the businessman.” I give his arm a slap. “How would you describe this venture?”
“Unprofitable.”
Noah casts Ralph a wounded look. “What? Bro! Back me up, for fuck’s sake!”
“Dude, if I could think of even one practical use for it-”
“I can think of a thousand!” Noah protests.
“Mkay, Noosh. Get someone to product test the knife-pogo, see how it goes.”
“Like you?”
“No,” Ralph says firmly. “Not like me.”
“Jamie, looking at you,” Ripley snickers.
“Um! I don’t think so! Ralph is right, the only people who would want a knife-pogo are people who want to get their cranial trauma and stab wounds all in one place!”
“That market is already cornered, anyways,” Ralph informs me. “I know guys who’ll give you that combo deal for free. No pogo stick needed.”
“Don’t lead them back to our house by accident,” Aiden warns him.
“Don’t worry about that. They won’t go anywhere I don’t want them to, man.”
“What? Why not?”
Ralph shrugs, staring at Aiden like it’s obvious. “Because they work for me?”
“Oh, my god,” I laugh, pressing my palms to my eyes. “None of this helps us get the soccer ball off the fucking roof. Unless we want a bunch of terrifying enforcers who work for Ralph to come over here and form some kind of human pyramid-”
“Alright,” Ripley cuts in, suppressing a laugh. “I’ve been waiting to say this, because I wanted to hear how unhinged the ideas would get, but, um - should we just get a ladder? Raj, Noah, you’re contractors, so - you’ve got one in your truck, right?”
We all stare at Ripley for a second. Then we all turn to look at Noah and Raj, who turn to look at each other.
“Man, that’s what we forgot about,” Noah tells Raj, smacking his arm. “Ladders.”
“Holy shit,” Aiden wheezes, dropping his face into his hands. “Are you fucking serious, right now? I assumed you guys didn’t have one!”
“You guys got all the way to knife-pogos before you got to the ladder?” Ralph laughs, staring at them in amazement. “Jesus Christ!”
“I’ll go get it, hang on. Don’t use the knife-pogo, Jamie.”
“We don’t even actually have a knife-pogo, Noah,” I shout after him, then fall into instant, embarrassed silence as someone leans out of the back door of the house just in time to hear me.
The newcomer stares at us for a moment, then steps outside, clipboard in hand.
“Um - hi, Dahlia!” I call, lifting my hand in a wave.
“Hey, Jamie!” Dahlia crosses to join us in the garden, the skirt of her long, gauzy dress swishing around her ankles. “Hey, all of you! Had a fun afternoon?”
She laughs when we all give her an enthusiastic grin in response.
“What’s good, Dahlia?” Raj says brightly.
“Mel sent me over to pick up Nik.”
Noah nods at the house. “She’s asleep in the kitchen, in her car seat.”
“Great! Mel also wanted me to make sure that you guys were still on task? Sticking to the schedule, I hope?”
“Oh,” I answer, glancing hastily at the soccer ball. “We, um-”
“What are you guys doing?” Dahlia asks, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
There’s a brief, awkward silence.
Noah winces as he answers. “We, um - we were trying to figure out the best way to get up on the roof.”
Dahlia blinks at him. “Oh, cool. Okay. What?”
“Just - trying to get up on the roof,” Noah repeats, sheepishly rubbing his elbow. “We got something stuck up there.”
Dahlia stares at him, then looks down at the schedule pinned to her clipboard. Reads in silence for a second, and then -
“Well, I have no further questions,” she says, with a shrug of her shoulders. “Sounds like we’re right on schedule.”
We all blink at Dahlia in surprise.
“What - really?” Raj asks.
“Mhm. Look.”
Dahlia holds out the clipboard, and we all lean in to read the section of the schedule she’s pointing to. Right before Get changed into wedding clothes, there’s a block marked as: Allotted time for the boys to inevitably get distracted (most likely doing something bewildering and senseless, but that’s normal, don’t worry about it).
“Oh,” Noah says, then turns to Raj, cringing. “Should we be embarrassed that Mel thought to schedule time for that? And that she was right?”
“Nah, man.” Raj grins happily, throws an arm around Noah’s shoulders. “We should be glad to have a fiancée who knows us so good.”
“Want to go make her your wife?” Dahlia asks, to an eager nod from both Noah and Raj. “Then you should go get changed. That’s the next item on the schedule, and it’s scheduled to start in - oh, shit! Like, ten seconds from now! Go, all of you, fucking go! Sunset weddings have to happen on time, people!”
We all turn as one, then rush for the house.
~~~~
“This is gonna be ridiculous,” I tell Aiden a few minutes later, tucking in my shirt.
“It already has been,” he laughs, doing up the buttons of his dress shirt. “Do Raj and Noah need to change in here after we’re done?”
“No, they’re changing in the other bedroom.”
Aiden stops one button short of having his collar done up, his blue eyes suddenly full of alarm. “Isn’t - isn’t that the room where we stored that giant fire extinguisher that Roger gave us?”
“Oh.” I stop, too, staring at Aiden. “Yeah, but - Noah wouldn’t spray anyone with it. Not today.”
“Right, no,” Aiden agrees. “He’s in his wedding suit, and so is Raj. He wouldn’t do that, he knows better.”
There’s a brief silence.
“Oh, god,” Aiden says, then rushes for the door.
“Go fast!” I call after him, pulling on my socks.
I straighten up and look into the mirror to fix my hair, then glance at the door as Ralph steps through it. He’s only wearing his jeans, but he has a dress shirt in his hands.
He shows me the tag still attached to it. “Help me out?”
I take the tag in my fingers, hold it out while Ralph neatly burns it off with his lighter.
“Did you buy new clothes for the wedding?” I ask, caught by surprise.
Ralph shrugs at me, taking the dress shirt back. “Do I look like a guy who owns a suit?”
“It’s a nice shirt.”
A smile flashes across Ralph’s face as he looks down at it. “Calla picked it out for me.”
I might have known. The dress shirt is a dark green color, and it goes nicely with Ralph’s eyes. Something he probably wouldn’t have noticed, but Calla definitely did.
Ralph turns away to pull the shirt on, and I see that he has a handful of tattoos, more than I realized. I only catch a fast glimpse of his ink, but there’s a big one on the side of his ribs that looks like a set of angel wings, with a date inscribed beneath.
There’s also a tattoo on his shoulder that looks like Noah’s stick-n-poke handiwork. The style matches that little stack of books that Melanie has tattooed on her inner wrist.
I smile to myself, feeling like the stick-n-pokes are little love marks from Noah.
Ralph shrugs the shirt onto his shoulders, then strides out of our bedroom right as Aiden comes striding back in, fire extinguisher in hand.
“That was close!” Aiden casts me a wide-eyed glance, a little out of breath. “He had it aimed and everything!”
“Jesus Christ,” I groan-laugh, doing up the last button on my shirt. “And you laughed when I said that we should get him a backup suit-”
I break off abruptly, having turned to look at Aiden. He’s done getting into his suit, and he looks - whew.
“You okay?” he asks, arching an eyebrow.
“Yum,” I answer, and then, blushing deeply - “What? Oh - yeah, I’m fine.”
Aiden huffs out a soft laugh. He comes over to me, curls his knuckles beneath my chin, and gazes down at me. His pupils are slowly dilating, turning the blue to two thin rings.
“I like you in a suit, Keane,” he rumbles quietly, and I bite down on my smile.
I hold his hand as we set off down the hallway. Aiden pauses at the top of the stairs.
“Should we get Raj and Noah?” he asks. “Think they’re distracted again?”
I leave Aiden at the stairs and double back to the second bedroom to glance in.
The room is empty but for the sunlight, and the stray leaves and petals from the wedding flowers on the floor, shifting in the light breeze from the open window.
And Raj and Noah, in their wedding suits, standing alone together by the window.
They’re just - looking at each other. Raj is holding Noah’s hands. The radiant magnesium brightness in Noah’s eyes looks even shinier, given that his eyes are a little wet. Like iced silver.
Raj’s deep brown eyes are shining with love and warmth, staring right into Noah’s. The breeze stirs Raj’s dark curls and the strands of Noah’s long black hair escaping from his bun. But neither of them seem to notice it.
I back away quietly, then go back to join Aiden at the stairs.
“Give them a minute,” I say softly, squeezing his hand.
“Okay, what…?” Dahlia begins, staring around at the living room when Raj and Noah come downstairs a few minutes later. She trails off, one eyebrow arched, then looks down at the schedule. “Oh, I see.”
“What?” Raj asks, straightening out his dark blue dress shirt.
Dahlia turns the clipboard around again, now pointing to a note on the schedule, right beneath Get changed into wedding clothes.
Not one of those boys is going to make it to the wedding in their full suit, and again, it’s fine, don’t worry about it.
We all draw back to look at each other, realizing all at once that everyone forgot their suit jacket upstairs. Nobody remembered to put on a tie, either. Actually - there’s not a man in this room without his sleeves rolled back to his elbows and collar open. Noah and Ralph both opted to keep on their combat boots, too, instead of switching into dress shoes. They have their suit pants loosely tucked into them, like they would with a pair of jeans.
“This is not a group that wears a lot of suits,” Ripley explains, and Dahlia nods, like she can see that.
“Well, since everything appears to be going smoothly, I’m gonna take Nik back to the house.” Dahlia slides her sunglasses onto her nose, then crosses to the door, picking up Nikita’s car seat on the way. “Don’t be late!”
“We won’t!” Raj checks his watch, then looks up at Noah with glowing eyes. “Dude. She’s right, it’s time. We - we should probably get over there.”
Noah beams at Raj, bouncing a little on his feet.
“Oh, wait!” I slap a hand to my forehead, then spin around and rush for the kitchen. “I’ve got something for you guys to wear!”
“Oh, yeah,” Raj says, turning to watch me go. “Boutonnieres, right?”
Noah’s grin widens, dimples appearing at the corners of his mouth. “Say that word again, Raj?”
“Ugh! I should never use French words around you, my pronunciation is trash-garbage-”
“Not boutonnieres!” I call from the kitchen, carefully extracting them from the fridge. “Something else!”
Raj and Noah stare at me in surprise when I walk back into the living room, holding my handiwork up high, so it doesn’t drag on the floor.
Two long, leafy ropes of vibrant green. Thickly woven together from soft, bushy palapalai ferns, slender maile leaves, and glossy ti leaf.
“What are those?” Noah asks, arching a pierced eyebrow.
But a big, slow smile is spreading across Raj’s face, his dark eyes filled with recognition.
“Ti leaf leis,” he says quietly, as I come to a stop before him. “The groom usually wears one, at Hawaiian weddings.”
I lift one of the leis over Raj’s head and loop it around his neck, then adjust it so that the two long, leafy strands are even, stopping right past his hips. He takes the other one from me, then turns to Noah. He carefully places it so that it encircles the back of Noah’s neck, like his own. Straightens it out so that it hangs down properly over his chest.
He looks at Noah wearing it, then lets out a soft, sudden sound and grips my shoulder tightly.
“Jamie,” he says, in a voice almost pained with happiness.
“Surprise,” I laugh, beyond delighted to see the expression on his face.
“I like it,” Noah says brightly. “Looks sick, Jamie - what’re you doing, Ralph?”
Ralph hastily lowers his camera. “Nothing.”
“Okay, c’mon, we have to go,” Aiden says firmly, checking his watch. “Everyone out to the car.”
Raj lets out a burst of bright, thrilled laughter, then seizes Noah’s hand.
“Come on, man!” he shouts, already racing for the door, Noah laughing in his wake. “Let’s go get married!”
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