Epilogue
Four Months Later
Dominic spotted Benji’s car idling in the pickup lane at the Philly airport, which was good because Trey had forgotten to ask what he drove when Benji offered to collect them.
Their flight in from Atlanta had them landing at eight ten on Christmas morning, which had been the best their manager had been able to get.
They’d had a gig the night before that lasted until one a.m., so the six o’clock flight had been a compromise.
No way was Dominic allowed to miss Christmas Day at home, no matter how amazing Off Beat’s career was at the moment. Trey had taken that call from Mom two weeks ago during their stay in Baltimore.
“Dudes!” Benji waved his hands in the air, then darted around other departing passengers to throw his arms around Dominic. “Merry Christmas.”
“Hey, man, Merry Christmas.” Dominic returned the hug. “Looking good.”
“You too. Hey, Coop.” He embraced Trey, too. “You, on the other hand, look awful.”
Trey snorted. “I had food poisoning two days ago.” He was never eating raw oysters again. Ever.
“Ugh, that sucks. Happened to me once after a bad batch of Maryland crab soup. No fun.”
He didn’t want to think about his still-tender stomach. “Can we go? It’s fucking freezing.” Trey already missed the slightly less arctic weather he’d left behind in Atlanta for Pennsylvania in December. And he didn’t have his fluffy winter coat on him.
They stuffed their suitcases into the trunk. Dominic called shotgun, which was fine by Trey. He stretched out on the backseat and napped for the ride out to the Bounds house, barely paying attention to Benji’s questions about their travels.
Ever since their first duo at Unbound nationals, Off Beat had been busy with club bookings all over the country.
Their manager, Silas Easton, was a genuinely nice guy who adored their sound and the fact that they were a couple.
He got them a logo and a website, and got a Facebook fan page set up, and they recorded a handful of professional videos of them covering different songs for the pages.
For the last few months, they’d been traveling almost nonstop.
They were already set to play at several state fairs the following summer, and the whirlwind didn’t look like it was stopping anytime soon.
And Trey loved every single second of it, because he spent almost all of his time with Dominic. They were so in tune with each other that Trey hardly remembered what it was like to be without him.
He touched the glass vial he wore nearly everywhere now. Dominic, too. The necklaces had become a physical symbol of their love.
Too soon the car’s engine shut off.
“Wake up, sunshine, we’re home,” Dominic said.
Trey faked a groan as he sat up. A light blanket of snow coated the yard and lay in piles from where the driveway and walk had been cleared. Someone, probably Starr, had built a small snowman with pink boots sticking out the front.
Dad came out without a coat to first hug them both, and then help them with their suitcases.
Trey had learned the fine art of traveling light, which was why they’d shipped all presents home the week before.
The house smelled like coffee and cinnamon, and the warmth curled around Trey like a fuzzy blanket.
Everything became a mass confusion of hugs and greetings.
All of the Bounds kids were home, and Trey finally got to meet Percell and Taisha.
Her husband was with her, and Trey kind of forgot his name right away.
He’d ask Dominic again later. Mom got in on the hugging action, and Trey clung to her a little longer than the rest.
He loved her hugs.
Joshua appeared, the scars on his face less noticeable every time Trey saw him. They’d keep fading over time, without ever truly going away. Trey might have squealed a bit when he finally got to Bobby, Danielle, and Andy, who’d all been invited for the brunch.
Fading Daze hadn’t won nationals or the recording contract, but they’d scored an agent and were keeping busy on the East Coast. When Trey left them to go on tour with Dominic, they’d folded Benji into the band to replace him on vocals.
He and Danielle sounded amazing together, and the group was thriving.
The only person noticeably absent was Tyson, and he asked Bobby about it.
“Zelda invited him, but he said he couldn’t,” Bobby replied with a shrug.
Tyson had been pretty quiet since the abrupt dissolution of XYZ, sending the occasional text so they knew he was alive, but avoiding any real interaction. It bothered Trey; he just didn’t know what to do about it.
“Is Linc coming downstairs?” Dominic asked someone.
“Closer to when we eat, I think,” Dad said. “The vertigo is bad today.”
“Can I go see him?”
“Of course.”
Dominic bolted up the stairs to see his best friend.
Trey watched him go, unhappy for the stressful situation that Lincoln’s life had become after the car accident.
The Boundses had taken him home and installed him in Taisha’s old room once he was released from the hospital, and all of his follow-up care was transferred to a local neurologist who specialized in traumatic brain injuries.
Lincoln’s recovery was frustrating on every level. Even though he’d retained all of his memories and cognitive functions, his ability to physically move around was hampered by frequent headaches and vertigo so awful he’d simply fall over if he wasn’t careful.
The first time he’d done it around Trey, Trey had barely caught him before his head cracked off the corner of the night table.
His doctors had ruled out inner-ear problems and a host of other things.
The ruling opinion was that his head injury had damaged the balance centers of the brain—doctor speak for “We don’t know why, so we’ll blame the car accident.
” It didn’t help that Lincoln had a previous head injury from when his father pitched him down the stairs.
Lincoln spent a lot of time in his room, listening to music, and messaging with his friends.
Dominic tried to call him every night, no matter where they were, to offer some semblance of normalcy.
Something real to hang on to when an action as mundane as going to the bathroom could end in injury.
He couldn’t even walk down the stairs to the first floor without an assist.
Last Trey had heard, Lincoln had been prescribed something to help with the dizziness.
Danielle skipped over and slung an arm across his shoulders. “So how’s married life?”
“Ha ha.” He kissed her cheek. “I could ask you the same thing.”
“Yeah, well, we’ve only been involved for a month.”
“Didn’t you say something about the sexual tension being there since day one, and it was like a romance novel, you guys flinging secret smiles back and forth?”
“Whatever.” She glanced across the room at Andy. “You know how people say you can judge a guy’s dick based on his shoe size?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Andy wears a fourteen.”
Trey snort-laughed. “God, I’ve missed you.”
“Me too. Funny how everything has changed since the start of summer.”
“Never would have happened if you hadn’t told me to get off my ass and go get laid already.”
“This is true. You remember that when you and Dom are celebrating your golden wedding anniversary. I put you on your path toward destiny.”
In so many ways, Danielle had done just that—sent Trey on a collision course with Dominic that had led them to this day, with a house full of friends and family celebrating the holidays together.
Even if only for a few hours, since Percell shipped out at six, and their flight back to Atlanta left at nine the next morning.
Mom called everyone to the dining room at ten o’clock.
The table wasn’t big enough for all of them, so a few card tables and folding chairs had been set up in the attached living room.
By the time the clan was situated in a standing circle around the spread of food—which included a huge platter of bacon that had Trey’s name on it—Dominic and Lincoln appeared in the archway, Dominic’s arm around Lincoln’s waist.
The sight didn’t stir a single pang of envy in Trey. Only sadness, because that arm was for necessary support. Lincoln was pale and looked exhausted, but he had a bright smile for the room. “Merry Christmas,” he said.
A soft chorus of replies preceded Dad asking everyone to bow their heads for the blessing.
“Father God, we humbly thank You for Your mercy in allowing our children to come together today in fellowship, and for Your protection of them during these last few trying months. We ask that You continue to bless this family and this meal, that it may nourish our bodies and spirits. In Your name, amen.”
Trey swore he heard Dad’s voice crack a few times during that prayer. So much could have been lost thanks to an unknown driver, and instead there they all were, alive and mostly well.
He ended up eating at the dining table sandwiched between Roxy on his right and Dominic on his left. Lincoln had been installed on Dominic’s left, and he picked at the food on his plate with all the enthusiasm of an inmate faced with his final meal.
“Did I tell you about the club I started at school?” Roxy asked.
The college freshman’s entire face lit up and she sped on before Trey could reply.
“I guess it’s not really a club, exactly, but a bunch of us get together once a week and talk about consent and date rape and how to promote awareness on campus.
We got some backlash from some of the fraternities, but screw them, you know? ”
“That’s awesome,” Trey said. And a resource very much needed on college campuses.
Dominic must have already known about it, because he was smiling proudly at his sister.
They’d both gone through awful experiences and come out all the stronger for them, thanks to their support network and two loving parents.
Parents who’d adopted Trey into the fold and insisted he call them Mom and Dad.
They’d only had to ask once. He loved them, he loved their son, and he’d do anything for the family he’d cobbled together after leaving home three years ago.
Dominic was a beautiful man with a beautiful heart, and a soul full of music.
Trey was the lucky guy who’d earned his love.
He got to wake up with him every morning, fall asleep with him every night, and kiss him whenever the mood struck.
He’d never imagined falling so madly in love with someone ever, much less at twenty-one, but Trey wouldn’t change a thing.
He and Dominic had joined voices to create a perfect harmony of love and respect, and that music would carry them anywhere they wanted to go.
Together.
Thank you for reading!