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“No one else thinks this is going be awkward?” Mateo asks, his hands fidgeting against the Catan box; a sign of unbridled nerves. The two of them, plus Paul and Marjan, were all standing in the lobby of Carlos and TK’s apartment. Avoiding the awkward inevitable.
Nancy’s hand reaches for his before answering, “It’s going to be extremely awkward.” Her hand flexes against the handle of the tote bag she’s holding. Her homemade guacamole can work wonders, but it’s not like it can preform miracles.
“I mean, how do we even bring it up?” Marjan asks, eyebrows furrowed. “Hey, sorry your engagement fell apart, by the way we brought Catan.” She shrugs, adjusting the pasta salad under her arm. “Seems a little less than empathetic.”
“Don’t you think we’re all being a little bit dramatic?” Paul questions.
“Oh you’re one to talk.” Marjan is quick to reply. “We wouldn’t even be talking about this if you hadn’t said anything.”
“How is this my fault?” Paul switches the six pack of seltzer water from one hand to the other. “Just because I noticed that Carlos was fidgeting with his ring doesn’t automatically mean something bad is happening.”
“Yeah, except now the ring in question isn’t even being worn.” Nancy mutters. She releases her hand from Mateo’s and presses the button to call the elevator. Might as well get this over with.
“Might as well get this over with.” Mateo mumbles as the elevator starts the descent to the lobby. Once they all pile in, they sit in a tense, and somewhat uncomfortable silence.
“So,” Mateo breaks the silence; his hand tapping against his jeans before Nancy grabs it in hers, again. “Who is going to bring it up?”
Nancy adjusts the tote bag in her hand, again, before saying, “I vote, none of us. Maybe we should just act like we don’t notice anything.”
“A little too late for that,” Marjan says. “Thanks again, Paul.” Her words hold no heat behind them.
“It’s a thing, my thing.” Paul objects. “It’s not like I can turn it off.”
“If you could, would you?” Marjan questions. Paul stares and Marjan stares back, waiting to see if he’ll answer. A muted ding lets them know they’ve reached the right floor. “Hm.” Marjan hums, smiling. It’s not often she bests Paul, so she tends to revel in it when she does.
Walking down the hall, Mateo asks, “Do you think they’re going to know we know something’s wrong?”
“Nancy brought her homemade guacamole, they’re definitely going to know we know something’s wrong.” Marjan says. Paul knocks on the door, and they all hear shuffling inside.
“How about,” Nancy suggests, “We let them bring it up? If they want to tell us, they will.”
“I think that sounds like the most level headed suggestion we’ve made all day” Paul agrees.
Before any of them can respond, the door opens and TK is standing there, bright eyed and happy. If he and Carlos are on the rocks, He’s hiding it well.
“Well he’s hiding it well.” Mateo mumbles out and Nancy lightly nudges him with her elbow.
Marjan is the first to greet him, “Hey” Her smile is wide, leaning a little toward questionable. “We brought Catan.”
—
Carlos greets them not too long after, his smile mirroring TK’s. Once seated, they all share an occasional glance between each other, but other than that; game night goes as usual.
At some point; they don’t know if they’re letting TK and Carlos win because they know something’s wrong; or if they’re just that good at the game.
After the first game, Mateo looks a little antsy, the unspoken question wanting to break free.
Nancy squeezes his hand intermittently, both a reminder and a reassurance.
TK gets up and moves towards the refrigerator, grabbing the food everyone brought over. “Oh Nance, you made your guacamole?” He asks, fondly. “I wish we had known you were gonna bring some over, we’re all out of chips.”
“I’ll go get some.” Mateo blurts out, standing up.
“Mateo, no, you’re our gu-“ Carlos begins, but Mateo is already pulling on his jacket.
“It’s fine.” Mateo waves his hand lackadaisically. “ We pass a gas station every time we come here, I’ll just drop by there. I’ll be back in like 10, 15, 30 minutes.” He’s out the door without so much of a goodbye and the sound of the shut door settles in the living room.
“Oh,” TK says, still processing what just happened. “Well, I guess we should keep the night going until he gets back.”
They move on from Catan, and the three of them focus on not focusing on Carlos’ missing ring. They think they’re handling it well until Carlos and TK share a glance with each other.
“Okay,” Carlos pauses the music and sits back into the couch. "What’s going on?” He asks. TK raises his eyebrows in question, looking between the three of them.
“Why what ever do you mean?” Marjan asks, feigning ignorance.
“We’re playing Clue, and Paul’s losing.” Carlos says, “Either something’s up, or something’s up.”
“Looks like I can turn it off.” Paul smiles, eyes cutting to Marjan. It’s not often he bests Marjan, so he tends to revel in it when he does. Marjan glares, but there’s malice laced in it.
Marjan looks at Nancy, Nancy looks at Paul, and Paul looks at Marjan; none of them knowing where to start.
“Well?”
“Just,” Paul says, hoping that what he's about to say makes sense. "We’re here for you.”
“Huh?” TK asks, looking more confused than before.
“It’s just,” Nancy pauses, choosing her words carefully. “We want you, both of you, to know that we’re here for you. You know, for a chip run,” Her eyes look to where to Mateo had been seated. “Game night, or you know, if the wedding bells havesuddenlystoppedringing.” Her sentence ends with a flurry of rushed words; as if saying them makes them real.
TK and Carlos look at each other, and then look back at them.
“What are you talking about?” TK asks.
“We,” Nancy starts.
“Paul,” Marjans interjects.
“Paul might have noticed that Carlos was fidgeting with his ring during the last game night.” Nancy explains, “Which doesn’t mean anything bad happened, but it can be the person’s anxious, or getting cold feet. Next thing we know, you’re you’re not wearing it at all so we didn’t know if there was” Nancy stops when TK and Carlos both start laughing. Not at her, or at them, but as if there’s a joke only they’re both in on.
After they catch their breath, TK says, “He’s getting his ring resized.” “I’m sorry?” Nancy replies while Marjan and Paul both respond with “What?”
“Well,” Carlos looks over at TK with love sick eyes. “Someone was supposed to wait until we both had a day off so we could go shopping for the ring together; but he be patient long enough.”
“Don’t be like that,” TK says, “It’s one of the things you love about me.”
“Anyways, he decided to surprise me with a ring, the one I had been wearing, but it was slightly too big,” Carlos continues.
“And instead of “making it work”, like Carlos likes to do and tried to do.” TK picks up the story where Carlos left off. “I might have admired that he was right; and that I should have waited. We sent it to get resized about a week ago. ”
Paul thinks about how that explains the fidgeting. How did he miss that?
“So the wedding bells are still on?” Marjan asks, “You’re still hopelessly in love with each other?”
“Probably a little more than ever.” Carlos says, his thumb rubbing the back of TK’s hand. “So yes, wedding bells are still on,”
“And yes, we’re still hopelessly in love with each other.” TK finishes. “Sorry for the air of mystery this has brought. You could have just asked us, you know.”
“Eh,” Marjan says, “It’s not like we were giving it much thought.”