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Eddie absently stirred his drink with the straw that his son had handed him earlier. Watching the ice float around in a circle seemed to ground him. So much so, he didn’t notice the person slipping into the seat beside him until they planted a sloppy kiss on his cheek.
“Eddie!” Maddie giggled as she pulled away, and placing her left hand on his thigh, a gesture completely reminiscent of her brother, she stared at him concernedly.
“What?” He asked. Why was she looking at him like that? He was fine just sitting there at the table. Alone. At her wedding. While everyone else was either mingling with the other guests or acting crazy on the dance floor, jumping around and laughing like they’d had too much to drink. Come to think of it, they probably had had too much to drink...
“You have a sad face. And sad faces are banned at my wedding!” She slurred. “Says so on the invite.” Eddie let out a quiet chuckle. He’d read that invite about a thousand times, it had been displayed on his fridge for months now, and not once had he seen the “no sad faces” rule that apparently Maddie had implemented.
“No, it doesn’t, and I’m not sad. I’m just...” He trailed off.
“Morose, maudlin, forlorn, somber...” She reeled off, moving her hand from his thigh and placing it over his right hand. “And it does say that, you obviously didn’t put it under UV light!”
“Where would I get a UV light? And anyway, I’m not sad, or morose, or any other synonym that you can think of. I’m fine.” He tried to reassure her. “I’m just happy sitting here, watching everyone.”
“Nuh uh, you are. And we both know why. I think everyone knows why. Well, except for the person that needs to know and doesn’t. And I don’t know why he doesn’t, because he’s smart and he usually figures stuff out easily. But he hasn’t this time. And we said we wouldn’t tell him, but we’ve been trying to push him and nothing.” She rambled. “But you know what? It’s my wedding and everyone needs to be happy. Even you, Eddie Diaz. So, I took my wish from the tree.” She nodded over to the decoration in the corner, a white wooden tree, around two feet tall, which was decorated with pieces of folded green paper to represent the leaves. Each one contained a wish for the happy couple. Eddie couldn’t remember what he’d written, something about love and happiness and a long life together. If he was honest, it probably echoed about 80% of the wishes hung on it.
“Your wish? Why would you make a wish for your own wedding? Isn’t it meant to be people wishing for you?” He asked. That had been what Buck had told him when he’d burst into Eddie’s house after helping with a marathon wedding planning session. He had been so excited when he’d found out about wishing trees and insisted that Maddie incorporate it into the wedding. Eddie guessed that Maddie was as immune to those sparkling eyes as he was (and that was, not at all).
At his question, she leaned over to him, close enough that their forearms were touching, and her mouth was almost at his ear. “My wedding, I make the rules. And my wish wasn’t for the rest of our lives, it was for tonight.” She murmured before placing the piece of paper into his hand. “And you know, the bride always gets her way on her special day.”
Eddie stared down at the green in his hand, not daring to open it. Because he knew what it was going to say. And, as much as he didn’t want to let Maddie down, especially today, this was much too scary to even contemplate without at least another four or five shots of whiskey.
“Mads, I can’t...” He murmured back.
“You didn’t even open it yet.” She took the paper from his hand and unfolded it, then placed it on the table. He forced himself to look.
Buck and Eddie to dance.
OK, so it wasn’t as bad as he thought. He was sure Maddie was going to get him to tell Buck his feelings, since apparently the man was completely oblivious. There was just one flaw in her otherwise perfect plan.
“I don’t dance.”
“You do now.” She grinned, looking at him with pleading eyes. Jesus, how could both of them make him do exactly what they wanted with just one look? She gave him a shove, and slowly he stood up, staggering a little as he took a few tentative steps to the dancefloor. Looking back, he caught her eye, and she gave him an encouraging look, so he strode onto the side of the dance floor and watched as his whole 118 family sung (or screeched) the final chorus of Sweet Caroline.
“Eds! Come on old man, join us!” Buck yelled over the screaming. He didn’t have time to argue, because Buck had caught him by the wrist and yanked him into the centre of their circle. “I was beginning to think you just really liked that seat.” He joked before resuming his Tigger-like bouncing.
The song faded out, and Eddie turned to leave, but he soon realised he was still attached to Buck. The man had let go of his wrist, but somehow, without even realising, their hands had become intertwined, fingers wrapped around each other. Looking down, Eddie realised that he could barely make out whose fingers were whose, they fitted so well.
“Nooo, you don’t get to come for thirty seconds then leave!” Buck whined, giving another tug, pulling him in closer. “You’re staying with me.” Eddie opened his mouth to make an excuse, but the opening bars of the next song made him stop in his tracks. It was a song he knew all too well, it had been on Buck’s wedding playlist for the past month. And it was the one that he and Maddie had picked for the couples’ dance. Panicked, Eddie tried to pull away again as the piano played, but Buck just pulled him back again.
“Dance with me?” He pleaded, and relenting, he turned to face the man, letting him place his hands on his sides and pull him in close. Eddie took a deep breath before letting his own arms rest around Buck’s neck. He was a dead man, he thought. But at least he might die happy.
Eddie closed his eyes as the two of them swayed as the lyrics washed over them.
Wise men say
Only fools rush in
But I can’t help
Falling in love with you
Somewhere in the middle of the song, he felt his head being drawn to Buck’s shoulder, and instinctively, he rested on it. Then started to panic again. Was this too much? Was he crossing the line? But looking at him, all he could see was a comfortable smile on his face. So, he just stayed there and closed his eyes again.
Like a river flows
Surely to the sea
Darling so it goes
Some things are meant to be...
He felt Buck’s lips brush against his forehead, so gently, he thought he had imagined it. But opening his eyes, he realised that they were close. Very close. Tentatively, he lifted his head. Buck pulled him in closer until they were nose to nose, and he didn’t know who closed the final gap, but all of a sudden, their lips were pressed together, fitting in a way that Eddie hadn’t even realised was possible. It just felt so good, so right, so natural. Like these were the lips he had been destined to kiss all his life.
“God, I love you.” He murmured as he pulled away, and then bit his lip. He didn’t mean to say it, he honestly didn’t, but the alcohol, the music, that kiss...they all made it seem like the perfect moment to say it.
“Good, because I love you too.” The reply came. As the song came to an end, Eddie glanced around and realised something. They were the only two people left on the middle of the dance floor. Everyone else was still dancing, but they’d moved to each side. Catching Maddie’s eye, he could see that she was smiling proudly at them, and he gave her a quick smile back before turning to Buck.
“Did you two plan this?” He whispered, resting his head on Buck’s shoulder again.
“Maybe...”