Chapter 31 #2
“It’s my song!” Austin said, throwing his hands in the air and starting to move his body to the music.
Felix listened, his smile widening. “It is! Yeah!” He grabbed Jason’s hands and started dancing. “It’s really catchy.”
“Thanks!” Austin said.
They continued to dance through that song and the next one and the next until Felix lifted his bleary gaze to see Brett near him. He stumbled over to him.
“Brett! Come dance with me!” He took his hands and tried to pull him over to his friends, but Brett wouldn’t budge.
“Come on! Come dance!” He pouted, and when that didn’t work, he almost—almost—rolled his eyes, but he wasn’t that drunk.
Well, maybe he was, but he didn’t want to cut the night short, and if he did that, it certainly would. “Please, Brett.”
At that moment, a slower song came on, and Brett allowed himself to be led closer. Felix snuggled against his chest, sighing when Brett’s arms came around him and held him tightly.
“Hmm.” Content didn’t truly explain how he felt at that moment. Even with his head swimming nicely and his lips feeling a little numb, he was happier than he had been in a very long time.
His eyelids fluttered when he was picked up, an arm under his back and chest, but he didn’t open them fully, just snuggled deeper into Brett’s arms. It was only when his man let him go that he pulled himself free from the depths of snoozeland to complain.
“Come back,” he mumbled. “Warm.”
Brett kissed his forehead. “Home, then I’ll hold you again.”
“’kay,” Felix murmured, already lulled back to sleep.
He remembered jumbled memories of being lifted from the car and laid in bed, but then it was black. He did, however, remember the next morning.
“Oh shit,” he whispered, squeezing his eyes to block out as much sunlight as possible.
He clicked his tongue against his dry mouth, not daring to move a muscle in case the soup in his stomach decided it wanted to return.
His head felt like someone was shooting a gun right next to his ear every second.
And he could smell his own breath, something he never wanted to do again. “What the fuck,” he murmured.
“Good morning, sweetheart.” Brett kept his voice low, for which Felix was eternally grateful.
“Mornin’.”
“How are you feeling?”
“Tenuous.”
“Would you like some paracetamol?”
“Yes, but I don’t think I can move. The minute I try, I know I’m going to need to run.”
He heard a soft laugh. “Would you like me to carry you to the bathroom now so that hopefully won’t be a problem?”
“I love you,” Felix whispered.
“And I love you.”
Brett gently picked him up, but once he was in his arms, he walked quickly to the bathroom, leaving Felix on the floor by the toilet, resting against the wall. He hadn’t put the light on, thankfully.
“You thought of everything. You even put the bath mat down so I wouldn’t be cold,” he murmured, leaning closer to the toilet as his stomach rolled and pitched. He breathed through his nose slowly, hoping to calm the storm.
“I couldn’t have you uncomfortable now, could I?” Brett said, crouching near him.
How he knew that Felix couldn’t say because his eyes were still closed, but he must have some super sense or something.
“Here are some tablets,” Brett said, putting them in his hand. “I’ll hold the glass to your lips once you’ve put them in your mouth.”
Felix lifted his hand, clumsily getting the tablets between his lips, and then the cool edge of a glass rested against his lower one. He sipped slowly, the cold liquid nice to his parched throat. He swallowed the tablets and pushed away the glass.
“Thanks. Let’s hope they stay down.”
He finally managed to open his eyes more than a crack and saw Brett in the limited light spilling from the covered window. Brett moved to sit beside him, and Felix shuffled to rest his head against his shoulder.
“I do love you, you know,” he said.
“I know. I love you just as much.”
They sat in silence for a little while, Felix’s stomach still not sure if it was keeping its contents inside, until Brett inhaled deeply.
“We’re getting married, you know.”
Felix smiled, a huff escaping from his nose. “I thought there was supposed to be a question before that was agreed on.”
Brett moved a little, jostling Felix a little more than he would’ve liked, but then subsided. “I know, but you know I’m not very good with words. So how about…”
He pressed something into Felix’s hand. Something small, circular, cold. It caught on his thumb, and he gasped, opening his eyes again to focus as much as he could in the light.
“It’s a ring,” he stated unnecessarily.
“It is.”
Felix glanced at him, Brett’s eyes glistening slightly. “Do you have one?”
Brett smiled. “Depends. Are you going to say something?”
“Depends.” Felix smiled again. “Are you going to ask something?”
Brett pressed his lips against his temple and sighed. “Felix Jamison, will you marry me?”
“Yes.” Brett attempted to press his lips to Felix’s, but Felix slapped a hand over his mouth, catching Brett in the jaw. “No! I’ve not brushed my teeth!”
Brett laughed, the sound echoing around the bathroom.
“That’ll teach me.” He rubbed his jaw. “Okay. We can seal the deal later. But first…” He took the ring from Felix’s hand and slipped it on his finger.
“And…” He handed Felix a second ring, which he took and slid onto Brett’s hand.
“They’re not wedding rings, they’re promise rings of a sort. Just for now.”
“Fuck, I love you.”
“I didn’t realise I changed my name.” Brett squeezed his hand. “Happy birthday.”
And even though Felix’s stomach twirled and twisted, and even though his breath smelt like the bottom of a bin, and even though they were sitting on the bathroom floor in their pyjamas, Felix was the happiest he’d ever been.
****
Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed reading Brett and Felix’s story.