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“What a nightmare.” Carlos says as he scrolls through his phone; the item being the only reason his hands are currently steady. TK can’t fully see what he’s doing, but he can see the white light of the screen vividly reflecting in his brown eyes. “On today of all days.”
“You do have to admit,” TK begins, shuffling off his suit jacket; hoping that’ll it do something to combat the heat. “Our first dance being interrupted by the sprinklers accidentally being triggered is kind of funny.” TK jokes, an attempt at lightening the mood. “At least we already had the fire department here.” TK nods towards the guests that are gathered together across the street.
Carlos takes his eyes off his phone and shoots his head up, looking at TK. He looks TK up and down. TK’s gone through the effort of rolling up his sleeves, the heat still winning the battle. Carlos takes a deep breath and exhales. “You’re lucky you’re so hot.” He goes back to looking at his phone, his fingers gliding across the screen.
TK smiles and moves a little closer to Carlos. He whispers in his ear, “You think I’m hot?” Carlos can hear the smile in TK’s voice.
Carlos doesn’t even look up, “You know I do.”
TK laughs softly and Carlos revels in the sound. “Baby, it’s gonna be okay.” TK rubs at Carlos’ arms, trying to get him to look up at him. Gwyn used to do the same thing when TK was younger. As a way to help ground him; her way of saying, “I’m here, I’m still right here.” with not so many words.
“What if it’s not?” Carlos mutters the phrase under his breath. His voice is shaking, but it doesn’t have something to grab on to steady it.
“Hey,” TK places a hand on Carlos' face, and Carlos wants to fall into the gentle caress. He looks up at TK and TK looks concerned. “What’s going on?”
Carlos releases a weighted sigh; his words finally catching up to him. He and TK both take a seat on one of the benches in front of the venue. Carlos locks his phone, looking at his reflection. “Senior year of high school, I took Iris to prom.”
“Okay,” TK says with word with a question in his voice. “Bringing up your wife at our wedding is a bold move.”
“Ex-wife,” Carlos clarifies, the joke laced through the words. “I, uh, I had just come out to my mom and dad, but no one else at school knew, unless, you know, I really wanted them to know.” Carlos continues looking at his reflection. He’s afraid that if he’ll start to see his younger self if he looks too long. “And I really didn’t want anyone to know.”
TK is quick to piece it all together, “So you took Iris to prom.”
“So I took Iris to prom.” Carlos nods his head. He takes his eyes off of his phone and looks forward, not really looking at anything. “We had a great time, because of course we did, but,” Carlos sighs, “I just remember how everyone looked at each other when they finally got to slow dance with one another. As if it was just the two of them in the room, in the world.”
He shrugs, “I’m not even sure how many of them are still together, it was probably just puppy love at best,” He turns his eyes to TK, finally looking at something. “I was just so happy I was finally going to have that dance with the person I love.”
—
After the venue informed Carlos and TK that they’ll have to close due to the minor flooding; Carlos and TK had the privilege of informing the guests that the ceremony would be postponed. Any hint of the word “cancelled” around either Owen or Andrea would unleash a frenzy the venue wouldn’t be prepared to deal with.
“Of course they wouldn’t be prepared for it,” Andrea agrees, as if it’s obvious. “They weren’t even prepared for some minor flooding.”
“Exactly,” Owen agrees, “What if the ice sculpture had melted and caused a massive puddle?” Owen raises his arm, as if it’s a valid question. “Someone could have slipped, and then what then?”
“Dad,” TK says through a laugh, “We decided not to go with your ice sculpture idea, remember?”
“Yes, but what if?”
Carlos shrugs, “They wouldn’t have been prepared for it.”
Owen points at Carlos, “They wouldn’t have been prepared for it, thank you.” Carlos and TK laugh, and Owen’s eyes brighten. “They’re not like you two.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” TK asks, an eyebrow raised.
“You two are prepared for anything.”
—
Despite the many, many, many attempts from the 126 asking them to keep the party going; Carlos and TK decide to have a quiet night in, instead.
After dinner, they decided to head to bed. Carlos was getting ready, excited to celebrate their first night as a married couple. He’s moving around the bedroom when he hears noise coming from the living room. He follows the sound to see what’s happening.
“Babe, what are you doing? I thought we were,” His words are cut off; halted by his surprise. Standing in the living room is TK on a floor covered with red rose petals. He’s moved the furniture to the side and dimmed the lighting. He’s backlit by a warm, but muted orange glow. “TK,” Carlos begins, slightly trepidatious, “What are you doing?”
“It’s like my dad said,” TK walks over to Carlos, “We’re prepared for anything.” TK nods and Carlos follows the direction. On an end table is TK’s phone and a speaker right next to it; it’s soft, but he can tell it’s playing their song.
Carlos is quick to piece it together. He smiles. “How, did you?”
“Let’s just say I’ve never been happier that you take long showers.” TK jokes. TK reaches out his hand, “Can I have this dance?”
Carlos grabs his hand, feeling grounded. TK is here, he’s still right here.
They start slow dancing in the living room. Bodies pressed together, Carlos’ scent of honey body wash overwhelming in the best possible way.
It’s as if the world is just Carlos, TK and the music.
Eventually the songs drowns into silence, but they keep on dancing.
Now it’s as if it’s the world is just Carlos and TK.
Carlos wouldn’t have it any other way.