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Hailey and Isabel, in the beginning, were an odd couple. From the way they dressed, to the movies they liked, nothing about them seemed to naturally line up. Hailey would ramble on for hours about the latest superhero movie, while Isabel would quietly sob through tissues glued to a feature where a dog was the main protagonist. The girls seemed like two completely different features with entirely opposite messages.
But, somehow, in a miraculous blend of genres, they had come to fit together quite nicely. Hailey’s more outgoing demeanor allowed for Isabel to be introduced to a lot of wonderful people, giving her the space to grow more comfortable with herself in the presence of genuine friends. Isabel, in turn, offered Hailey a sense of calm when the two were alone with each other, constantly reminding her of how much she adored her nerdy quirks.
And here Nate sat, admiring the couple at the table next to him, a satisfied smile adorning his face. He watched as Hailey turned to Isabel, face lit by soft candlelight as she whispered something into her ear hurriedly, and the subsequent giggle that rang out from her wife. Even in the crowd of around a hundred, it seemed like the two really only cared to hear the sound of each other’s snickers for just a moment, before continuing to chat with the others surrounding them.
Nate, as an active participant in their wedding, had been given a special seat at the table beside the two. Unfortunately, the couple’s own was reserved for family, but he didn’t mind too much. He had been able to talk to Hailey far more than enough times in the process of figuring out the wedding, and he had gotten to know Isabel through the few dress rehearsal events that they’d attended together. She was on the more timid side, as was Nate, so they had exchanged silent looks of mutual discomfort together a few times around Hailey’s fiercely extroverted family. They were wonderful people, for the most part, but the both of them were somewhat relieved that a wedding like this was a once in a lifetime event.
When Hailey had confided in him that she had plans to propose, Nate had felt an acute sense of nostalgia to the way that he had helped the two get together in the first place. He had remained their personal cheerleader, and looking back at how it all began so long ago made him just a little teary-eyed. At just fourteen, the two had gone through some growing pains learning how to handle a relationship, but they had always come back to each other’s sides. No matter how many times Hailey had come to Nate or Jessica, convinced that Isabel was out of her league, they had given her the reassurance that they were a good match.
So came the tables of friends. Next to the brides were their parties of people who had worked on making everything fall into place on the day of the wedding, including many familiar faces from Nate’s childhood. In fact, the amount of people attending who he’d gone to elementary school with was a little absurd. From his place in Hailey’s circle he had ended up next to Eddie, who had bonded with her over all sorts of nerd culture that was on an entirely different level than Nate could keep up with. On his other side was Jessica, who was currently chatting with Katie about the stress of the weeks leading up to the event.
“I know, right?” Katie let out a laugh, her cleanly curled hair falling just below her shoulders. A purple bow was tied into the back of her hair, allowing the rest to flow freely down. “I mean, I think I was more worried than she was.”
Jessica nodded along, “When I asked her what kind of flowers she wanted to get, she said, ‘oh, oops. I forgot’… a month before the wedding!” The girl pinched her nose between her forefingers, letting out an affectionate sigh and leaning back into her chair, “What would she do without us?”
Nate felt his chest grow light with laughter, ever familiar with the girl’s forgetful nature. If you asked him, she could be incredibly thoughtful… when she remembered to be. He looked back on the time she’d gotten him a set of different space-themed stud earrings for his 14th birthday, right after he’d gotten his lobes pierced, only to hide them from him in her closet and forget she bought them until his 16th. With that in mind, he took a bite of the flavorful grilled chicken on his plate, making a mental note to acknowledge Jessica later for handling the catering.
He glanced back up from his plate, and turned his attention to Katie. For a moment, the thought passed him that she looked nice. Not in the way that would make his face flush or his palms sweat like they used to. That flame had died out long ago. She’d gotten together with him in the 6th grade, they’d shared a mostly miserable relationship together, and she’d quickly broken up with him after the summer had ended. It became his first heartbreak, but also his first hard lesson about love. Thankfully, after a long mourning period on Nate’s end, he was able to move past his feelings in order to treasure her friendship, which he valued far too much to let past grudges interfere.
“Psst… Nate!”
The brunette’s attention was called to Eddie, who was tapping him gently on the shoulder. After catching a questioning stare, the shorter boy pointed to the main table where Hailey and Isabel sat. Hailey’s brother, Joshua, could be seen messing with a microphone from behind his back. He thumbed around the handle for a switch, before eventually clicking it into place. The sudden buzz of feedback could be heard from the speakers at each corner of the room, calling the crowd’s attention to the noise. As everyone quieted, Joshua stood beside the table, giving the mic a quick tap before beginning his speech.
All who volunteered themselves to say something meaningful that night had rehearsed it well in advance, giving themselves a speaking order and practicing out of sight of the brides. That wasn’t to say everything was completely scripted, though. Nate felt a pit in his stomach beginning to form as he listened to how smooth Joshua’s voice sounded, wondering if anyone would be able to tell how much he was sweating underneath his suit. A horrible scenario where the microphone slipped out of his hand and landed square on his foot began to dwell in his mind. Nate tried to push that thought down as far as it would go.
Smiles were exchanged between sister and brother, and a brief hug was given as the speech came to an end. The microphone was passed from brother to mother, and so began another heartfelt speech. Each piece was only planned to be one or two minutes long at the most, making Nate’s feeling of impending doom all the more imminent. He tried to swallow back the nerves fluttering within his gut, but they had come back with a vengeance by the time the microphone had reached Jessica.
Oh no. Oh, no. He was up next.
“I’ve known Hailey for as long as I can remember,” the girl began, “And she’s always had her quirks. I remember in high school she was always budgeting for food, but spared no expense for the latest Sailor Cuties merch lineup.”
Quiet laughter echoed around the room. Jessica’s expression grew softer, a smile growing wide on her face.
“But… somewhere down the line, she changed. She kept using some pocket money on her paraphernalia, sure, but suddenly she was working a part time job so she could go out for lunch every now and again. She was always telling me about how happy she was to finally be better friends with one of her classmates. I think I started to put it all together when she made me go to the jewelry store with her and asked me,” Jessica put her fingers up in air quotes, “‘which necklace a girl would like’. Just hypothetically, of course.’”
A pause echoed throughout the room, a steady inhale audible from the speaker, and her voice cracking into a solemn, slightly bittersweet fondness as she continued.
“I still remember that next day- when Hailey ran to me, with a big, dopey grin on her face, letting it slip that she had a girlfriend. I remember a few years later, when Hailey asked me what kind of ring Isabel might want if she were to propose, as if I would know.” Jessica stifled a laugh, “I also remember the day, many years later, that I watched as Hailey accidentally let a ring slip out of her pocket and it nearly fell down a sewer drain.
“So, to Hailey, superglue that thing to your finger.” She spoke, narrowing her eyes at her friend.
Hailey nodded firmly, replying with a comically exaggerated salute.
Jessica shifted her eyes to the right, gaze softening. “And Isabel? Keep making Hailey happy. I know you will.”
The woman, with her mouth agape, simply nodded, her face melting into one of understanding. A round of applause rang out as the two exchanged friendly smiles, with the loudest cheers coming from Hailey herself, and Jessica passed the microphone to Nate.
The boy wiped his hand against his pants, standing up and thanking her. He took a glance around the room, observing a crowd of engaged smiles, and made a mental note to curse Jessica later for setting him up to fail.
“I can’t really give any new advice to you two today.” His eyes shifted over to the couple, “Getting married is beyond what I can give advice on, and I think I’ve given Hailey more than enough of that.”
Nate laughed awkwardly, idly nudging a finger against the wire at the end of the microphone. His eyes naturally drifted to Hailey’s beaming face, encouraging him to keep going.
“Instead, I want to say that I really, truly believe that you guys bring out the best in each other. I know that you’ll have a really great life together.”
He cleared his throat. Just a little more to go, he reminded himself, you need to tell her.
“To Hailey, I want to say thanks. You’ve been the greatest friend a guy can ask for. In all the years I’ve known you, you’ve never not picked up any of my calls when I’ve needed you, even if they didn’t come often.”
Nate felt a flash flood of heat rush to his cheeks. Averting his eyes from Hailey’s piercingly excited stare proved impossible, with her emotions practically radiating off of her body regardless of where he looked. He couldn’t help but try to look away nonetheless as the most embarrassing part tumbled off of his tongue.
“I don’t honestly think I’ve ever been afraid to tell you anything, because you’re one of the most accepting, kind people I know, and Isabel is every bit as good of a person as you are. So just believe me when I tell you that you deserve a huge, awesome wedding like this. You always have.”
The girl in question said nothing, in fact, her usual volume level of eleven had been taken down to less than one. Instead, the tears brimming in her eyes spoke for her, loud emotions showing as she not-so-subtly tilted her head towards the ceiling to avoid letting them fall. Despite this, she grinned wide, a thousand words of gratitude hanging in the air as she sniffled dramatically. This time, Nate met her stare head on to match her expression, albeit with less waterworks.
After a moment of silence, and an awkward passing of the microphone, the room erupted into a fit of quick cheering, with a few whistles and shouts bursting through from their closer friends. Nate released what he thought was the longest breath he’d ever held in his life and let himself collapse into the chair beneath him.
His mind checked out for a moment from there, the remaining congratulatory speeches becoming white noise. It wasn’t until he heard Hailey testing the sound on the speakers that he was snapped back into reality.
“Check… psst…” She whispered, “Hails and Izzy here!”
Isabel leaned into where she held the microphone, smoothing a quick hand against her dress.
"We'd like to thank you all for coming tonight. We know that having this all the way across the ocean wasn’t exactly convenient for some of you.”
“Big thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Hoshikaze for helping us get everyone together!” Hailey extended her hand to the corner of the room where Isabel’s parents were sitting, grinning at them toothily and being sure to send them a wave. The couple smiled back, a bittersweet warmth radiating from their side of the venue, and she continued.
“Lots of love from Springdale! We can’t wait to come back to visit all of you in BBQ again after today. But we aren't gonna talk about all that stuff right now. As commanded by me, all of you must have fun tonight! So, while we’re here…” Hailey began, leaning over to do a mock drumroll against her legs, “The cake’s out! Me and Isabel are gonna be trying to talk to everyone, so please come say hi!”
With a sharp grin and a cordial peace sign, Hailey flicked her wrist to wave goodbye to the crowd. Isabel followed shortly after, being tugged along by her hand towards the tiered cake that had been carted to the corner of the room.
The crowd filed away into two sections. Most of Isabel’s relatives remained in the furthest ends of the room or situated themselves at tables, muttering about picking up slices later. Hailey’s family, however, moved like a flood towards the corner, fists and elbows being thrashed around in a civil, but still urgent manner.
Nate hung somewhere in the middle- not quite sure of where to go. Hailey and Isabel had disappeared, and it seemed like his friends had already arranged themselves into pairs, chattering amongst themselves around him. He sat with his tongue between his teeth, waiting for anyone in the group to make a move.
A voice that he hadn’t heard yet called out to him.
“I liked the speech.”
Nate swiveled to his side, met with the sight of a redheaded man. He grinned wide, and a smattering of barely-visible freckles could be seen across his cheeks in the dim neon lights. His black slacks were hemmed just above his ankles, a bit too short for his long legs, and a blue tie was fashioned slightly off center around his neck, clearly having been fought with. His curly hair was combed over to the side, well maintained with the smallest of cowlicks, only bolstering the brief giddiness that flickered in Nate’s chest.
“Thanks…” He felt a nervous heat creep up to his ears. “I forgot what I was gonna say just as they passed me the microphone, I thought my heart was gonna stop.”
The two of them exchanged grins, while Nate’s circle of friends shared hushed elbow-nudges and whispers.
Buck pressed on. “Well, I reckon you and Hailey are good enough friends that anything you say means a lot anyhow.”
“How do you know her?” Eddie chimed in.
Lighting up, the man eagerly answered. “Oh, Isabel invited me! Our parents’ve been working together since we were real little, so we used to hang out during their big boring meetings. But, I’ve met Hailey a couple times before. She seems like a fun gal.”
“She is.” Nate gestured to the massive crowd that had gathered on the dance floor, all circled around Hailey. She’d changed out of her formal wedding dress and put on a shorter one more fit for moving, already taking full advantage of the new range of motion it offered her.
Suddenly, a slow tune began to float through the air. The first dance had begun, and Hailey offered her hand up to Isabel with a grin. The woman covered a chuckle with her palm, accepting the offer by taking a gentle hold on her shoulder. Everyone’s eyes were drawn to the center of the room as they pirouetted around each other, each bringing their own personality into the way they moved. Where Isabel moved with a practiced poise, Hailey threw her for a loop by adding in sudden twirls. In one instance, a dip from her nearly sent them both tumbling to the ground. Somehow, though, this worked perfectly fine for them, earning hushed giggles between the two each time something went awry.
“Ain’t they somethin’?” Buck muttered, captivated by the scene.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen Hailey this coordinated.” Nate laughed, “She was so nervous before today that she made me practice dancing with her almost every day.”
“No kidding?”
Nate shook his head. “She even practiced the dip on me.”
Buck’s eyes drifted back to the couple, beginning to notice the little ways that the dance wasn’t quite as spontaneous as it seemed. Hailey’s feet moved just a bit quicker than Isabel’s and her eyes kept flitting towards the next place they’d be moving, as if trying to hurry herself before she forgot what to do. Despite this, Isabel wasn’t put off by the quickened pace. Instead, she moved one hand from Hailey’s shoulder to cup her cheek, tilting her head to look her straight in the eyes. Though nothing was spoken out loud, Buck could’ve sworn that her look meant something like, “Don’t worry. You’re doing fine. And I’m here even if you aren’t.”
As the dance slowed to a stop, the pair spun around each other, long dresses swaying and brushing against the floor. The crowd erupted into cheers, and just as Hailey turned to look around, Isabel pressed a kiss to her cheek. The former couldn’t hold back a grin, giggling and snatching the microphone from where it had been left behind on one of the tables.
“Looks like the hard work paid off.” Buck remarked.
“She always freaks out until the last second, but she does fine with whatever she’s worried about, in the end.” Nate remarked, familiar with Hailey’s particular patterns of behavior.
“Well, y’sound like an expert in dealing with it.” He licked his bottom lip, searching for a segue. “So… Are y’gonna be in town for long to see them, then?”
“Well, I live half an hour away from here.” He chuckled, “It’d be a little weird if I wasn’t.”
“Right, since ya know Hailey, and all.”
Nate pressed back. “Why? Where’d you come from?”
“St. Peanutsburg.”
Nate gaped. “That far?!”
Buck nodded in reply.
“That couldn’t have been a cheap trip.”
He shrugged. “It was my dad who sent me. He was too busy to make it. At least, that’s what he’s been telling anyone who cares enough to ask.”
Nate could hear a sharp bite at the end of Buck’s words, like a line that wasn’t quite ready to be crossed. Maybe he’d ask more someday, but for now, he moved on, filling the silence with another subject.
“It’s kinda nice being so close. I only had to take a couple days off of work.”
Buck raised an eyebrow. “What do you do that you’re worried about missin’ for longer than that?”
“I teach art to middle schoolers. It’s my first year, so I want to make a strong impression, I guess.”
“No kidding.” Buck clicked his tongue, “Well I don’t think you’ve gotta worry about first impressions, much.”
Nate narrowed his eyes. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothin’ weird!” Buck waved a hand in the air, as if to erase what he’d said and make a clean slate for a more apt thought. “I just feel like you’d be pretty dependable. Like I could count on you, y’know?”
Letting himself think for a moment, Nate scanned Buck’s demeanor. He noticed the way the man had folded his hands together, twiddling his fingers anxiously, and the way his gaze was flicking between Nate and the floor. He also noticed, ever so slightly, the color of red that had appeared at the tips of Buck’s ears.
“Maybe that is kinda weird, now that I’ve said it out loud.” Buck chuckled awkwardly, a slightly southern twang to its sound, and his eyes fixed themselves to the ground.
Nate felt himself begin to tug at his tie before he could register it. His pulse accelerated, just enough for him to notice, and he placed the cool skin of his hand against his cheek, finding that it was no match for how hot his face had become.
Oh, god. This was bad.
Bad in the sense that some man had just complimented Nate- and it had made his heart feel like it was about to jump out and run away from him. And, even more terrible than that, he was almost entirely sure Buck had no idea how he was making him feel.
“It’s not weird- not at all!” Nate took a deep breath, placating the busy voices in his head. It was time for another subject change. “What do you do that you can be away for a week?”
Buck met his stare with enthusiasm, his previously shy mannerisms melting away at the question.
“Oh, I’m a park ranger!” He grinned, “Not too many jobs there that y’can’t find someone to cover for. I do miss seein’ all the critters whenever I’m away, though, so I suppose I get whatcha mean about not wanting to leave work for too long.”
“Critters like… crocodiles?” Nate shuddered.
Buck nodded enthusiastically, “Oh yeah. We see gators, too. I’m lucky enough to work at one of the only places in the world where they live together. Lots of other cool stuff to see, though.”
Nate rested his head on his knuckles, smiling. “I bet it’s pretty down there.”
“It is. Lotsa wetlands and rivers, and really good for stargazing at night.” Buck’s nose scrunched up, “The skeeters are outta control, though. It makes my walks hell when it’s humid out.”
“You’re more worried about the bugs than the giant, man-eating lizards?”
“Hey now, there ain’t no one who’s ever contracted malaria from a gator.” Buck defended.
Nate was quick to retort. “And there’s no one who’s been eaten whole by a mosquito.”
Buck placed a hand on his chin thoughtfully, as if thinking would somehow give him an example to prove Nate wrong. However, he came up empty.
“I reckon not.” He leaned closer, “Yer not weirded out by bugs?”
“Not at all.” Nate idly took a sip of his drink, leaning back into his seat and animating his hands as he continued, “When I was a kid, me and my friends used to collect them and show them off to each other. They make good subjects for drawing. My catches were never all that impressive, though.”
Buck paused, shrugging his shoulders noncommittally.
“You’d like it where I’m from, then. Y’find some crazy bugs when it never gets cold enough to kill ‘em off in the winter. I think they’re all pretty neat, though.”
“I’m sure they are.” Nate’s shoulders shook with a genuine laugh, “Maybe you could give me an official tour sometime.”
“I’ll show ya all the man-eating lizards and malaria infested mosquitoes y'could ever dream of.” Buck joked. He avoided Nate’s eyes as he spoke again, something a bit shyer flickering in his eyes. “And, well, the trails and stuff too. There’s some really cool wildlife stuff out there, but it’d be nice to have a fellow bug-liker.”
“You don’t see many bug-likers?”
“Well, most tourists just wanna see the pretty scenery and the bigger animals, which is cool and all, but I’ve got so much know-how about the little guys and nowhere to put it.” He crossed his arms.
“Well, I’ll listen.” Nate leaned a bit closer, “Anytime. It sounds interesting.”
Buck’s jaw went slack, turning to look at Nate head-on. Slowly, his lips curled upwards. He wasn’t smiling wide and toothy like he’d been before, but instead made a softer expression, seemingly touched by his words.
“Right. That’d be nice.”
A brief, comfortable silence fell between them. Nate took a moment to look at Buck- really look, and found himself at an even greater loss for words. Until now, he’d been absorbed in his fascination with nature. Now that he realized how close they’d grown, he realized just how many freckles Buck had, undoubtedly multiplying with his exposure to the sun.
And sun-exposed he was. Buck had a shade of olive-brown skin that could only be crafted with a job that made him stay outside all day. Consequently, Nate also noticed a faded red spot at the end of his nose, where he’d clearly paid the price of forgetting sunscreen.
Put more simply, he was uniquely handsome, in his opinion.
Jolting him from his thoughts, the song that could be heard drifting faintly around the room before was changed, kicking up into something much more loud. Nate’s head turned to the dance floor, where Hailey was already screaming along to the lyrics. Isabel stood at her side, more lively than he’d ever seen her, singing as small fits of giggles interrupted the performance. Whether it was the champagne they’d been serving or the adrenaline, one of the two had clearly been doing its job. As Hailey noticed his drifting attention, she waved at Nate, beckoning to him with a wild arm in the air.
“I think she wants me to get up there.”
Buck took this as initiative to shoot up onto his feet, turning on his heel with an outstretched hand to Nate.
“Y’wanna dance, then?”
His smile shone brighter than the spotlights above, a beckon for Nate to join him. In turn, he felt himself growing warm under the attention, feeling the urge to shed his suit jacket and cool off.
“I don’t know how to dance.” He dismissed, waving a hand noncommittally.
Buck shook his head. “Y’don’t hafta know. Y’just do. Get it?”
“Not at all.”
Nate let out a nervous laugh, his body beginning to feel the electricity of anticipation. Was Buck…?
No, he couldn’t be.
Then again…
Nate had been flirted with before. In the way that Katie used to brush her hand against his in the earliest moments of their relationship, and in the times that she would shove his shoulder teasingly. He’d been flirted with by other girls, too, on a handful of occasions, but the spark that it generated had never truly turned to a flame. He was always too late to pick up on it, too busy to dwell on the matter, or far too nervous to make a move.
So, he’d stagnated, patiently waiting for their interests to turn into something more- like it had with Katie. Where she had essentially seized him by the shoulders one day and said ‘okay, let’s try dating.’
More never came. The few girls quickly lost interest due to Nate’s lack of action, and he’d never found himself invested in them anyway. It had felt nice that they liked him, but he had been too heartbroken over Katie for a while to think about relationships.
As he slowly but surely recovered, he learned a few things about himself. Firstly, he needed to back off, and give his future girlfriend some space. Second, he wasn’t sure if he wanted a girlfriend.
For as warm and wonderful as loving a girl had been, he began to realize that it didn’t matter so much whether who he loved was a girl. Thoughts that used to be reserved for his girlfriend began to pour out onto a kaleidoscope of people- cute strangers he saw on the street, classmates, coworkers, you name it- including boys and girls.
Around when he entered high school, something he couldn’t name began to click in his mind. By his 16th birthday, Nate had officially put a name to this something, albeit embarrassingly late, and had mustered up the courage to tell Hailey about his belated bisexual awakening. She was unsurprised, but offered more support than he ever knew he needed.
Still, there was one thing she couldn’t help him with. Never in his life, at least that he had consciously registered, had he been flirted with by a man.
And here he stood at twenty-three, successively blinking and rubbing his eyes, as if to ask himself if the image before him was real or if he’d made it up in his mind. Was Buck reaching for his hand out of sympathy? Sheer boredom? Something more? Or was he just dizzy from the lights?
He wracked his brain, and realized he didn’t have a single clue. Somewhere in a filing cabinet of his mind there was a folder titled “flirting”, and every record within had Katie or another girl’s name on it. Not a single boy.
Nate thought for a second, and thought some more. Buck, growing impatient, clasped his hand underneath the other’s, giving him a firm tug to his feet. Nate let out a surprised squeak, praying the sound was muffled by the music.
“Really?” Nate asked, “You wanna dance with me?”
Buck paused, pressing his lips together into a thin line, while his thumb brushed over the top of Nate’s hand. Maybe it was a trick of the light, or telling himself what he wanted to see, but Nate could’ve sworn he saw Buck’s cheeks turn a bit pink at the question.
“Well, yeah.” His eyebrows knitted into a worried expression. He continued with a softer voice, his earlier self-assuredness waning. “Why? Y’don’t want to?”
And with that, Nate felt a magnetic pull towards the dance floor, like an invisible string was tugging him forward. Something about Buck losing the charming smile on his face and looking like a kicked puppy made his chest ache.
“No, no, I will! I’m just not very good at it, that's all.”
The ends of Buck’s lips quirked up. “If you’re sure.”
Nate nodded. “Lead the way.”
The man’s expression returned to the wide, toothy grin from before, and he gave Nate’s hand a soft squeeze. Quick to follow instructions, he led him towards a gap in the crowd, looking back to be sure that he was following close behind the whole way.
“What do we do now?!” Nate shouted, raising his voice to be heard above the speakers.
Buck let out a laugh that shook his shoulders, matching Nate’s volume as he replied. “I already told you!” He began to shift on his feet, bouncing on his heels to match the energy of the music. “Come on!”
He lifted Nate’s hand up and down as he jumped, and the man began to follow, first by moving his shoulders. One by one, each part of his body began to loosen, shyly giving Buck’s hand a squeeze as the nerves that had been buzzing through his stomach all evening began to dissolve. Eventually, Buck reached for his other hand, tilting his body back and forth as the two found a rhythm that matched.
At one point, Nate had even jokingly gone in to twirl him around with one interlocked hand above their heads, with Buck having to duck down to avoid smacking his forehead against Nate’s arm. The pair laughed loud and long at the difficulty of it all, losing their breath and rhythm as they struggled against their height difference.
“Let me do it!” Buck finally spoke in between giggles.
He repeated what Nate had just tried, spinning him in a far smoother motion. Just as the song faded, the lighting shifted, and Nate almost thought it’d been a trick of his imagination. They faded from a cobalt blue, to purple, and finally into a deep pink, and the music changed to match. Suddenly, there was a shift from mind-numbingly energetic party music to a slower, more romantic tune.
Nate went quiet, heart caught in his throat. Buck was still holding his hand, settling his fingers between Nate’s comfortably as he stopped moving.
“Uh… Did y’wanna sit down for a bit?” Asked Buck, sheepishly placing a hand on the back of his neck.
Suddenly, a surge of something ran through Nate’s body. As the adrenaline of having fun began to settle down, it was replaced with a vaguely more determined and comfortable feeling.
“I don’t mind dancing a little more.” His voice into a shaky laugh, “I practiced for months. Might as well use it on someone who isn’t Hailey.”
Like throwing a stone into the depths of a still lake, Nate had plunged himself into something that he wasn’t sure he could come back up from. Into somewhere that treaded the ever thin line of ‘you seem like a nice friend’ and ‘I’d really like for you to hold me a little closer.” Now the only question was if Buck would jump in behind him.
“Alright. Sure.” He answered simply, his lips pressing into a wobbly frown.
It wasn’t an answer. But it was something. Nate really had no clue what he was doing.
“Is this alright?” He asked, his hand hovering just above Buck’s shoulder.
The man’s breath caught. He nodded, and Nate let his hand fall to gently steady him.
“Well, you’ll have to tell me what to do this time. Since y’already know how to, and all.”
Nate could die. Nate was going to die, right here on the dance floor.
“I’m not the best teacher, or anything, but…”
“Nate.” He laughed, “Y’went to school for it. I’m sure yer a fine teacher.”
The man clamped his mouth shut, opening and closing it a few times while he found his footing.
“Okay. If you’re sure.”
So, he held his breath as he took Buck’s hand in his own, holding it between them in the air. The man naturally placed his other on Nate’s waist, careful not to grab too tightly or let it fall too low.
“Now just… follow me. It’s not too difficult.”
They began to step to the rhythm, making gradual revolutions at Nate’s lead. He wasn’t sure where to look at first, eyes flitting between the floor and different parts of Buck’s tie, but he gradually moved up to look at the man’s face again.
As he did so, the other was quick to notice, meeting his stare with an ever-reassuring grin. Nate felt like he was turning into putty. Like all that was going to be left of him after this was a puddle on the floor and a tombstone that read: ‘cause of death: felt too many feelings’.
It wasn’t just that he was always smiling, or how he’d complimented him earlier. It was in how secure Nate felt under his touch. The venue could have gone up in flames at that very moment, and he’d feel comfortable saying everything would work out. Something about being with Buck- about holding his hand and having his squeezed in turn- brought him a comfort he’d never quite felt before.
After a moment of quiet between them, he noticed that Buck had become distracted with something in the crowd. Someone, rather. Nate’s head swiveled around, eyes landing on a girl that was smiling at him. She noticed his stare quickly, giving a quick, friendly wave before she returned to her conversation.
“Is she your plus-one, or something?”
“Nah, she got an invite too.” He glanced again at the girl in question.
Though Nate couldn’t see the whole exchange, he could’ve sworn he saw Buck motioning his hand in a frantic wave around his neck, eyes widening as he mouthed something to the other across the room, cheeks turning slightly pink.
Nate felt something twist in his stomach. Buck already had someone he knew here. Maybe even someone he liked, he guessed, judging from his flustered reaction. He had totally misinterpreted his kindness and ran with it, wanting the simple fun to be flirting. He couldn’t say he was surprised, but he felt his heart sink a bit nonetheless.
“Right.” He shrunk. “Is she your girlfriend, or something?”
But, contrary to his prediction, the man looked mortified.
Buck paled. “Girlfriend?! Hell naw!” He violently shook his head, “That’s my sister, Dorothy.”
For reasons he didn’t want to address, Nate let go of a breath. Now that that had been cleared up, his sour feelings had been replaced with curiosity. Upon a closer look, he saw the family resemblance, with Buck’s gray-blue eyes ever so slightly visible in her from a distance. Her hair, though more blonde than red, still took on a strawberry hue, and curled in at the ends.
“What’s she saying to you?” His posture straightened a bit, gesturing to her over Buck’s shoulder.
As the two turned their attention to her simultaneously, it was like a switch had been flipped as she stopped the mouthed words and wild motions she’d been signaling to Buck, pretending to be engrossed in the hors d’oeuvres she was eating.
“…No idea. Don’t worry ‘bout it.”
Nate arched an eyebrow, eyes slowly dragging back over to Buck. “Right. You two seem… close.”
“You could put it that way. She likes to think she can read my mind just ‘cause I’m her little brother.”
“Can she?”
Buck’s eyes darted between her and the man in front of him, lips parting as he paused.
“Maybe just a little.” He decided. “But I’d never tell her that.”
“How’s that?”
Buck sputtered.
“Just- Well… In a lotta ways.”
“It must be nice to have someone like that.” He remarked.
“It is. Even if she gets all up in my business, sometimes.”
Nate laughed as he watched Buck twirl him around with ease to face Dorothy again, sticking his tongue out at her before turning his attention back to the boy in front of him.
“You know…” Nate began, “You don’t seem like a bad dancer, Buck.”
The fact that he’d noticed such a thing wasn’t incriminating. It wasn’t until Buck began to flush with a guilty smile that Nate raised a questioning eyebrow.
“Wait… You didn’t need me to teach you at all, did you?”
“I- Er.. What makes y’say that?”
Nate made an incredulous expression, nodding to Buck’s feet, where he was currently moving back and forth with a practiced ease, and a stepping pattern slightly more complex than Nate’s had been.
“Psh.” Buck avoided his interrogative stare. “That don’t mean anything.”
He narrowed his eyes in reply. Under little pressure, Buck’s lie fell apart, his defensive speech turning into a forward facing whisper-yell.
“Well, what am I supposed to do when a pretty boy offers to teach me how to dance?!”
He clapped a hand over his own mouth, his cheeks turning a bright cherry red. “I- I don’t- I mean-“ He sputtered, eyes widening.
Nate froze in place. “You think I’m pretty?”
“Well-“ Buck began, weakly deciding to give up on trying to climb out the grave he’d dug himself. “Yeah. Yeah I do. What about it?”
“It’s just.. you’re so…”
“So… what?”
Nate swallowed his nerves, his heart pounding in his ears. “You’re really handsome, is all.” His voice grew impossibly quieter. “I didn’t expect it.”
It was then, at that incredibly poor time, that Nate spotted Eddie and Katie from over Buck’s shoulder. The pair were staring, openly so, with Eddie’s mouth agape until Katie physically cupped his jaw and closed it. She quickly took control of the situation, looking around the room and pretending she’d only just noticed them.
Nate huffed, and it was Buck’s turn to follow where he’d been looking. Taking in his questions before they came, he decided to clarify.
“I saw some of my friends. They’re always up in my business, too.”
Buck nodded along, a faint smile appearing on his face once again.
“Still, it seems like y’all’ve known each other a long time.”
He paused, gnawing at his bottom lip with another thought on his tongue. Just as he opened his mouth again, taking in a preparatory breath, a burst of feedback screeched over the speakers. The culprit of poor volume control, as always, was none other than Hailey Anne Thomas.
“Hehe… Sorry about that, guys. I just wanted to tell everyone that requests are up! If you have a song you wanna hear, just come up and write it on the list!”
She held up a piece of lined notebook paper between her hands like a trophy, before placing it down next to the devices controlling the music. Her disturbances weren’t finished just yet, though.
“I’d also like to request a special guest to join us for karaoke! Drumroll, please!” She rapped her hands against her thighs dramatically, milking the moment.
Nate felt the blood drain from his face, suddenly slapped with a memory that he’d prayed Hailey had forgotten. During one of her brief moments of focus, she had splayed out on the floor, pieces of scrap paper with fun event ideas making a wobbly circle around her. On one of these, circled in pink pen, with little cyan music notes surrounding it, read ‘karaoke’. Nate, present for little more than moral support, had laid on the couch beside her, engrossed in a monster-collecting game on his old 3DS.
Knowing he wasn’t listening, Hailey had asked if he’d be willing to get up and sing with her, a smirk on her face as she expected him to snap out of his trance. To her utter shock, he’d been too entranced to protest, nodding along without a single thought to the fate he’d sealed for himself.
“Natiekins!” Hailey called out, “Get up here!”
“Who the hell is Natiekins?” Buck asked, bewildered.
The spotlight, a garish call to action, landed on Nate. Buck’s jaw dropped, and with a long, drawn out sigh, Nate released his hand.
“Nate?!”
Hailey swung around the table in front of her, quickly crossing the floor to extend a microphone out to her friend. As if to mock him, a disco ball began to spin on the ceiling, making a starscape of lights cascade around the room as a new tune kicked in. He knew that sleek, nostalgic song from anywhere. Try as he may, he could never deny it.
“The Sailor Cuties intro?!” He shouted, “Really?!”
“I know you know it!” She grinned at him wildly, swinging her hips as she danced along. Even before the lyrics started, she sang along with melodic gibberish.
Nate thought back to all the times Hailey had picked up his late night calls, and slept over at his house for long movie-marathons. He recognized that she was much more outgoing than him, even though they often had shared interests. In the few times he’d followed her into stores filled with nerd paraphernalia, she’d done most of the talking, while he had let his excitement dwell in his head.
He also recognized that sometimes being a good best friend, and taking their wedding from fun to unforgettable, meant public humiliation. With that in mind, he took in a deep breath to collect himself.
He knew what he had to do.
Like it’d been ingrained into him through ritualistic cult behavior, (which, in a way, it had, via Hailey) he began to sing. Through shaky, nervous laughter, at first, with his cheeks growing red under the attention. But, as the second singer came into the song, Hailey followed his performance with her boisterously tone deaf voice, and his nerves began to unravel in his chest.
Suddenly, his suit jacket again felt cramped and hot. He shrugged it off his shoulders, quickly playing it off into a part of the goofy dance that he and Hailey were creating.
Nate, though still nervous, was fiddling with his clothes less, as Hailey redirected the crowd’s attention by encouraging them to clap along to the beat while he had parts alone. Their sync was impressive, for putting on a spontaneous performance. At one point, they even exchanged their microphones, tossing them to one another like it was second nature. Even if the singing ranged from average on Nate’s part to… below average on Hailey’s, it was undeniably fun to watch.
At one point, during a particularly emotional part, Nate’s eyes met Buck’s, and he realized just how insane he might have looked to someone he’d just met that night. But, Buck didn’t look wary, or weirded out in the slightest. He was doubled over with loud laughter, the sound muffled but audible as he held his stomach. So, Nate pressed on, a surge of excitement filling his chest.
As the song came to a close, an explosion of whistling filled the room, and Hailey grabbed Nate’s hand, dragging him down into a bow. The pair exchanged a smile, and Hailey snatched him up into a hug, hiding her teary eyes in his shoulder.
“Thank you, Nate.”
“Anytime, Hails.” He whispered fondly, sharpening his words as he tacked on an important caveat. “Don’t take that literally. I’m never doing this ever again. I mean it.”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way.” She sniffled.
Giving him a firm pat on the shoulder, she retreated after giving one last affirmation.
“You’re totes more cool than you think you are, Nate. Have some faith.”
He quirked up an eyebrow. What was that supposed to mean?
As Buck returned to his side, he began to put it together. She’d been watching him. Of course she had. She probably already knew about his ginormous, stupid crush.
“I didn’t expect that outta you, Nate.” Buck remarked.
He flushed. Embarrassment was flooding his system, but for whatever reason, it didn’t wipe the silly grin from his face.
“Neither did I.”
Calling everyone’s attention for one last time that night, a group of women had gathered behind Isabel and Hailey, chanting in anticipation of something he couldn’t quite see. Nate looked on as the commotion began, with several in the crowd elbowing and bumping each other to get to a better catching position. Buck, on the other hand, was fixated on the man next to him, his heart caught in his throat.
As the bouquet soared over the heads of each girl in the crowd, it escaped the highest jumps and the tallest of outstretched fingertips. A resounding smack and a yelp of surprise echoed around the room, which had suddenly gone quiet. The crowd murmured, with some getting onto the tips of their toes to get a glimpse at where it had landed.
Buck, in all his smoothness, had been decked in the face with the flowers, crying out an expletive in his shock, and extended his arms to catch them below at his chest. He blinked once, turning them over to hold them by their stems, and let his eyes wander up from the bouquet to the man that just so happened to have been standing in front of him.
The room grew quiet. Buck’s gaze met Nate’s, and he could feel his face heating up under the stares that surrounded them. A sheepish smile creeping onto his face, he plucked a single maroon flower from the bunch and held it out to Nate on the tips of his fingers, as if he was afraid to damage it by letting too much of it touch his skin.
“Right. Um.” He began, clearing his throat. “I was gonna save this for later, but…” His smile trembled as he twirled the flower around in his hand, and he met Nate’s eyes with a cautious stare. “Nate.”
His heart leapt. “Yes?”
“I know we’re going to separate places after this, and all. But… I’d really like to talk to you again sometime.” He admitted, scuffing a shoe against the wooden dance floor, “Or, just get your number, at least. Or something. That is, if you’d wanna see me, o’course. Y’don’t have to feel like you’ve gotta say yes.”
For a moment, Nate short-circuited. So a boy had been flirting with him. More importantly, Buck had been flirting with him. Beautiful, outgoing Buck- who he now knew loved to dance. Who he’d learned loved nature, and who looked up to the stars at night while he listened to the croaks of frogs and the chirps of crickets. Who wasn’t afraid of alligators or crocodiles, but whose face could become exceptionally red when he talked to a guy he liked.
Nate hadn’t felt noticed by any other boys before, but he was already sure he couldn’t have gotten any luckier than experiencing it for the first time with this one.
“Buck.”
It was the redheaded boy’s turn to jump, his shy smile quickly turning to an anxious, tight-lipped frown. “Yeah?”
Nate felt himself grinning back without a second thought.
“I’d really like to see you again, too.”
“You would?” He questioned, before affirming himself, “Right, you would. Alright, okay!”
His face lit up once again. Nate internally remarked that he could get used to seeing that beautiful, unique expression on Buck’s face, as he took the flower and slid it into his breast pocket.
The room around them erupted into cheers and whistles, a sudden call to the amount of people that had been not so subtly watching them. To his right, Nate’s friends made a row of various faces. Eddie gaped at the development. Katie leaned over to whisper in his ear, filling him in on what she’d quietly observed. Hailey, much less subtle than either of them, hollered out an earsplitting cry of excitement.
An energetic tune kicked the life back into the venue, and the crowd quickly dissipated, with a select few making a sprint to the dance floor to get back to partying. One in particular nearly knocked the wind out of Buck on the way over, elbowing him in the back and sending him careening forward. Nate was quick to steady him, placing one hand on his shoulder and grabbing Buck’s own with the other.
Nate narrowed his eyes at the person who’d shoved him. “Asshole.” He muttered.
Nate had been quick to anger, but it was with an even more impressive swiftness that he began to fret over Buck.
“You okay? Did you get hurt anywhere?”
“Yeah. M’okay.” Buck sucked in a breath, his eyes wide as saucers. “Never better.”
His eyes betrayed his thoughts, darting to their hands that had loosely clasped together. Nate’s attention followed, paling as he dropped Buck’s fingers.
Maybe Nate was too old to be getting nervous about holding hands, or sharing a dance under colorful spotlights. But then, as Buck grabbed his hand once again, and gave it a gentle squeeze, another thought came to him. Maybe he wasn’t alone in thinking about those kinds of things.
“Y’wanna dance some more?”
Nate’s heart erupted with a flittering excitement.
“I do.”
So, off they went, with Buck tugging him along, and Nate following closely behind. They revolved around each other for the rest of the night, adhering to each other’s sides like their hands had been duct-taped together, with a simple promise that this evening together wouldn’t be their last.