Chapter 49
Luca
“What is that?” I stare in disbelief at the monstrous suit.
“Your outfit for today.” Louis is grinning from ear to ear and, in my opinion, is having way too much fun right now. “These are the shoes to go with it.”
At least he has enough decency to hold back his laughter, even if he’s probably biting his cheeks bloody to do so.
His eyes fill with tears, and no, they’re neither from pain nor from emotion.
Hanging in front of me is a fiery red satin suit, and in Louis’s hands are patent leather shoes in a completely different shade of red.
“I’m never wearing that, not in a million years. Valérie and I picked out such cool clothes for Jannis and Dayyan, and this is what you come up with for me?”
“But you like red.” Yes, red is my favorite color, but that doesn’t mean I want to walk around looking like a fire alarm.
“What did you get for Noah?”
“No idea, David was in charge of him.” Hmm, David wears suits for work, and so far they’ve all been stylish. Simple and elegant, but with a modern cut, which could work well. And maybe even go pretty well with the red suit.
“Okay, I’ll try it on, but with a black T-shirt and black Chucks. Those shoes are really too much.”
It hurts me to admit it, but the red suit has a great cut. Slim, the length perfect for my high-top Chucks. “You knew I wouldn’t wear those patent leather shoes, right?”
Louis nods with a smile. “I saw them and thought they were funny. You should’ve seen the look on your face. But the suit looks really good on you, seriously, even with the band shirt underneath. You look good.”
“And what do I need this outfit for?” Officially, Noah and I still don’t know what’s happening today, but after the flower bill, we have an idea.
Right after breakfast, they separated us and put us in rooms with no view of the garden. Louis and Jannis are with me, Dayyan and David with Noah.
“Surprise.” Jannis, who’s been sitting on the bed, engrossed in his phone the whole time, looks up and grins. Are there tears in the corners of his eyes?
“What’s going on with you?” I could have saved myself the question, because I don’t get an answer. Instead, Jannis taps frantically on his screen. Suddenly, he jumps up.
“We have to go.”
A small crowd is gathered in the garden.
I recognize every face, and everyone here is important to Noah and me.
Whoever was in charge of the guest list did a great job.
For the first time, I notice the bouquets of wildflowers sitting on the round tables scattered all over the lawn.
Everything is open and spacious, and the atmosphere is relaxed—just the way we like it.
Valérie is standing at a bar table, a few pieces of paper spread out in front of them.
“Turn around.” Louis’s voice is soft and gentle, a smile playing around his lips as he looks past me. “Noah looks great.”
My heart nearly leaps out of my chest when I see him. The suit, in a simple, shiny dark gray, looks so good against his pale skin and red hair. He’s wearing a white shirt and white sneakers. Tears well up in my eyes.
Noah looks around uncertainly, then comes toward me. “What are we doing here? I mean, I know what we are doing, but why?”
Even though we’d promised everyone a celebration back before the civil wedding, we were actually both just fine without one, which is why we didn’t pursue the idea any further. Apparently, that didn’t go over so well with our family.
“Luca, Noah! Come here to me!” Valérie’s husky voice echoes through the garden, and I sense trouble.
“I have the honor of officiating this wedding ceremony today. You’ve already gotten married in the eyes of the law—without us.
” A wave of laughter ripples through the crowd.
“Once upon a time, a boy lived in a big house. He was wild and insatiable, didn’t want to commit to a partner, and changed them like other people change their underwear. ”
Charming. But once again, the laughter is on Val’s side, and even Noah presses his lips tightly together.
“But one day, completely out of the blue, the wild boy met the handsome prince. He was instantly enchanted, but the handsome prince wanted nothing to do with the wild boy. He couldn’t imagine that he was the one meant to tame the wild boy. ”
A loving “Oh” ripples through the rows, Noah smiles gently and reaches for my hand. “But holding the handsome prince’s hand, the wild boy soon showed his true colors. He no longer had to be afraid and could let himself fall into the handsome prince’s arms.”
Okay, damn it, this speech is really beautiful, and I blink away the first tears.
“But soon dark clouds gathered over the kingdom. The handsome prince longed for the sun, but could no longer find it. The wild boy grew sad, too. He wanted to laugh with the handsome prince again, but the dark clouds had taken all the happiness with them and robbed the handsome prince of his laughter. The dark clouds gathered ever thicker, and suddenly a bolt of lightning shot through the castle, splitting it in two to separate the handsome prince and the wild boy forever. But the wild boy couldn’t let that happen.
He took off running and jumped, knowing fully well he couldn’t possibly make it to the other side.
The handsome prince watched, frozen in place, yet certain he couldn’t help him.
But at the last moment, a ray of light flashed through the clouds, struck the handsome prince, and without thinking, he reached out. ”
Silence. No one around us moves. Everyone is hanging on every word Valérie says.
“When they kissed, the clouds broke, and hope returned to the lives of the handsome prince and the wild boy. Today we are here to celebrate their love, your love, Luca and Noah, and to preserve it for eternity. Is there anything else you’d like to say to each other? Now would be your moment.”
I’m still fighting back tears, and Noah isn’t doing much better. Still, he clears his throat.
“Okay, I’ll start. In this story, I’m the handsome prince, but before I had the chance to meet you, I was nothing more than the ugly little duckling.
No one saw anything in me, which is why it was so damn hard for me to believe it would be any different for you.
But you never allowed a shred of doubt to creep in about how much you love me.
You fought for me, with me, and alongside me like a lion.
Thank you for not leaving me behind. I love you, the wild boy, the wounded child, and the attentive man by my side who knows me so well and understands me better than anyone else.
I love this life with you, and no matter how many dark clouds may come, I know we’ll blow them away together. ”
“Fuck, that was good.” Val wipes away a tear. “You’ll have to top that.” Everyone laughs, and I love Val for their gift of always saying the right thing at the right time. V didn’t ruin the moment, they took the weight off it and created space for new emotions.
“Mon Papillon, I could tell you all sorts of stories now—that I fell in love with your beautiful eyes, or your hundred thousand freckles, and that wouldn’t even be a lie, but that wasn’t the beginning.
You’re the first person who truly knows everything about me, and yet you’ve never tried to change me.
You didn’t try to tame the wild boy, you never judged his behavior, never questioned it.
You had no expectations of me that I had to meet, and with that you gave me the chance to be completely myself.
You gave me a freedom that no amount of money in the world can buy.
Everything I experience is twice as beautiful because I get to share it with you.
” Noah cries, as Valérie fights back tears, trying to compose themselves to continue speaking, but they fail spectacularly and continues in a choked voice.
“Ah, screw the script. And so the wild boy and the handsome prince lived happily ever after. You may kiss.”
We don’t need to be told twice. Laughing and crying at the same time, Noah falls into my arms, our lips meet, and cheers and applause erupt around us.