Epilogue #4
Jenna was there. Of course she was. Her face was split in a grin so wide it looked painful, Chris beside her, both of them already half-laughing at his expression.
His friends from university. A cluster of colleagues from Grayson House; people from the editorial floor he'd grown close to over the past months.
And Landen's people. The Crimson Five, arrayed across a long table in the back like a particularly well-dressed jury.
All of them watching Adriel with varying degrees of amusement and warmth.
Gael, who had nodded at him once, early on, and said Landen doesn't do this.
Whatever you're doing, keep doing it. Adrian, who had taught him to play poker badly and laughed every time he lost. Jaden, who always asked about his work and actually listened to the answer.
And Sebastian, who had pulled him aside at a party and said if you ever need anything, and I mean anything, you call me.
And beside Gael, Sam.
Quiet, dark-haired Sam, who caught Adriel's eye and gave him a small, shy smile.
Adriel smiled back automatically, because Sam was one of his people now too.
The friend he hadn't expected. The one who understood the particular strangeness of being a newcomer in the Crimson world, who traded stories with him and made him feel less alone in rooms full of people who had known each other for years.
Adriel’s eyes were wide. His mouth was open. The shock was total and complete, a wave that washed through him and left him standing there, hand still in Landen's, unable to move.
He stared at the room full of people who had come here. Tonight. For him.
They had carved out their evening. Put on nice clothes. Shown up at a restaurant on a Monday night because it was his birthday and he mattered to them.
I matter to them.
He turned to Landen.
Landen was watching him. His expression was soft, unguarded.
Adriel's face crumbled. Gratitude and love and the overwhelming sensation of being seen, truly seen, by someone who had no reason to look except that he wanted to.
He threw his arms around Landen's neck and crashed into him. His face buried in his shoulder. His arms squeezed so tight that Landen staggered back a step. He was laughing and half-crying, the sounds muffled against Landen's coat, his whole body shaking with it.
"You… how did you… I can't believe…" The words tumbled over each other. "Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you."
Landen's arms came around him. He held him steady, one hand pressed flat against his back, the other cradling the back of his head. His mouth found Adriel's ear. "Anything for you, baby."
Landen pulled back just enough to kiss him. Adriel kissed him back without hesitation.
The party unfolded from there.
Adriel mingled. He hugged Jenna for so long that she had to physically peel him off, laughing, her eyes bright. He hugged Chris, who clapped him on the back and said happy birthday, man. He made the rounds, table by table, accepting birthday wishes and drinks, a bright smile never leaving his lips.
He ate too much. Drank just enough. Laughed until his stomach hurt.
He talked to Sam for a while. Sam told him about Penny's latest disaster at work, a story so absurd that Adriel laughed until he couldn't breathe.
Adriel told him about Jenna's ongoing war with their building's laundry machines, the way she left passive-aggressive notes taped to the dryers, the way the management ignored them both.
He danced.
Jenna dragged him onto the small, cleared space near the back. He went protesting, but let himself be pulled. Chris joined them, and the three of them danced like idiots; graceless and happy. Adriel's feet went numb. His cheeks ached from smiling. He didn't care.
Then a slow song started.
Jenna and Chris paired off naturally. Chris's arm slid around her waist. Jenna leaned into him with the ease of people who had done this a thousand times, who fit together without thinking about it.
And for a moment, just a moment, the old feeling surfaced.
The familiar lurch in Adriel's chest. The phantom ache of being the one left standing. The one without a pair. The one who watched other people fit together from the outside.
Then arms wrapped around his waist from behind just as he was about to go back to his table. Landen pulled him back against his chest. His mouth found the curve of Adriel's ear.
"Where do you think you're going?"
The old feeling vanished.
Adriel turned in his arms and faced him. He looped his arms around Landen's neck. Landen's hands settled on his waist, pulling him closer. They swayed, barely moving, not really dancing.
"You okay?" Landen asked softly. His eyes searched Adriel's face. "You happy?"
Adriel was quiet for a moment.
He looked up at Landen. At the face that had become the most important face in his world. The man who saw him when he couldn't see himself. Who reached into the dark and held out his hand and waited, patiently, for Adriel to take it.
He smiled. Pressed his forehead against Landen's.
"Yes," Adriel whispered. "Yes. I am."