18. Promises
Promises
Theo didn’t think he’d cry, but they got him with the vows. How could two people be so earnestly in love in front of hundreds of their friends and family?
The official-head-person didn’t tell Caleb to kiss the bride, but he went for it anyway, and Avery laughed into his mouth.
It was very cute. Then they all wandered across the grounds for dinner.
It was called Burbingham Manor or Bubblington Palace or some such nonsense.
Theo suspected Avery’s family was rich. The rehearsal dinner had been fancy, but the wedding was on a whole other level.
Or, more accurately, a different tax bracket.
Everything was so hoity-toity in the restaurant, or no, the dining hall: silk tablecloths, crystal vases, and a seven-course meal.
The wait staff floated around near-incorporeally, as if they lost points if they were caught existing.
After dinner they were led into another cavernous room named Tripfordshire Banquet Hall, and Dae had to tell Theo and Jordan to stop laughing.
A nine person band, which Theo learned was a ‘chamber orchestra’, played softly as they all milled around chatting.
He didn’t want to say it was boring, but it wasn’t not boring.
He stayed with Dae, making sure he wasn’t feeling pressure to small-talk his way through the crowd.
Dae mostly stayed quiet, but Theo wasn’t sure if that was his anxiety, the jet lag, or the chamber orchestra putting them all to sleep.
“Thank you!” Avery’s dad got up on stage and waved at the musicians to stop playing.
“That was lovely. The Front Street Orchestra was a gift to Avery and Caleb from my mother-in-law, which was very thoughtful, wasn’t it?
” Everyone murmured in agreement. “But, well, she left, so why don’t we switch things up a bit?
” There was an even louder, more enthusiastic murmur of agreement, and a DJ set up her gear as the orchestra packed up their instruments.
The music hit like a spell cast over the crowd, and even the people in Avery’s family who Theo had pegged as stuffy snores were up dancing. The beat drowned out everything else in existence, as it usually did, each song morphing into the next, turning him into a sweaty, laughing, happy goof.
Dae had ducked out shortly after the dancing started, and Theo gave him a respectful four songs before he hunted him down, dodging flailing elbows and narrowly avoiding a kiss from one of Caleb’s aunts before he found him at a table in a corner, using a flower stem to doodle imaginary characters on the tablecloth.
His tie was askew and his hair adorably mussed, which meant he’d been fidgeting.
“You know, if you actually gave him a custom Bob Is Not Your Neighbour drawing,” Theo said, slightly panting, “I think Caleb would die of shock and happiness.”
Dae smirked up at him. “Exactly why I won’t do it. That would be a tragic end to a wedding.”
“Feeling tired?”
He shook his head as Theo sat beside him. “There are a lot of people out there who want to know everything about Korea. It’s a bit draining.”
“And here I am ruining your alone time.” He got up to leave but Dae pulled him back down.
“Not you.” His fingers gently squeezed his forearm before letting go. “Never you.”
Theo didn’t even try to hide his smug smile. They flicked the cork of a wine bottle back and forth for a while in comfortable silence as the music vibrated the air around them, but eventually, one had to join the party.
“Dance with me.”
“What? No.” Dae cut a look to the dance floor, his face a mask of horror.
“You think these people would have an issue with two guys dancing?” Caleb’s cousin and her wife were already swaying cheek-to-cheek. To ‘Material Girl’!
“Of course not. I just don’t dance.”
Theo leaned forward, attempting a sternness they both knew he didn’t possess. “I’ve seen you dance, Dae.”
Dae matched his tone. “I was drunk, Theo.”
“So let’s get you drunk.”
“No.” The word was hard, like a boulder blocking a stream. “I don’t want to make any mistakes.”
“What kind of mistakes?” He prodded his bicep with a finger, over and over. “Rob a bank? Call all your exes and tell them that you’ve only gotten more attractive? Get on a table and take your shirt off?”
He pursed his lips in his patented anti-smile. “Exactly.”
“Give me a second to picture it.” Theo closed his eyes and hummed, nodding in approval.
“Theo.”
Damn, he missed his blush. “Fine, I don’t want to pressure you into doing something you don’t want to do.
” He jiggled his leg as he watched Caleb’s cousin’s hand slide down her wife’s back and settle on her ass.
Dae’s chest rose and fell dramatically and the muscles in his jaw worked.
Theo couldn’t hear the sigh over the music, but he’d heard it enough times to know exactly what it sounded like. He missed his sigh too.
The music shifted to a slow song, and Dae stood, his shoulders tensing as if bracing for impact.
“C’mon, Theo, let’s dance.”
“I thought you’d never ask!” He took Dae’s hand and was led to the corner of the dance floor where they reverted to middle school dance techniques, with Theo’s hands on Dae’s shoulders, feeling the warmth of his skin beneath his shirt.
Dae’s hands hesitated, hovering for a few seconds before settling, solid and grounding on Theo’s hips.
The ache in Theo’s chest wasn’t entirely unexpected, but he hadn’t thought it would be this strong. He hadn’t been prepared to want to tuck Dae in his pocket and steal him away. Hadn’t thought every cell in his body would be screaming at Dae’s touch, begging for more.
“When’s the last bus to Hamilton?”
Dae stared at Theo’s shoulder as they swayed. “Midnight.”
“Will you sleep at my place or pull a Cinderella?”
“Cinderella.” Soft. Almost apologetic.
“Because your suit will turn to rags?”
A tiny blink of his dimples. “Because my family is waiting for me.”
The song changed to a ballad and they kept swaying. Under the smell of flowers and booze was that specific Dae scent Theo could never put his finger on, but always, always needed more of.
“Dae?” Dae finally dragged his eyes up to meet Theo’s. “Are you ever coming home?” Some scary questions he had to ask, because some scary things he needed to know. But he still held his breath.
“Yes,” Dae said, saving Theo’s life. “Probably soon.”
Soon. Never had a word entered Theo so fast, swimming through his veins, lighting his body on fire. “When?”
“About a year.”
Theo huffed and pushed at his shoulder. “We need to discuss your concept of time.”
Dae pretended to stumble, bringing Theo with him before they settled back into their steady, shuffling spin. “That’s when my contract ends. If I make a good impression, I can probably get a reference for a company in Toronto.”
“I’m hearing a lot of probably and not enough definitely. Yes, Theo, I will definitely come back to you. That’s what I want to hear.”
Dae put his forehead against Theo’s, their noses almost touching. Theo almost ceased to be as Dae whispered, “Yes, Theo, I will definitely come back to you.”
His entire body shivered. He knew Dae felt it, because his not-smile turned into a real smile, dimples and all.
“You did that on purpose.”
“Did what?” Dae pulled an innocent face and blinked at him like a cat who pushed shit off the table without remorse.
Theo purposefully stepped on his feet, and he laughed, pulling him off the dance floor towards the head table.
Theo attempted to get himself together as he watched Dae engage in another round of ritualistic back-slapping bro-hugs with Jason and Caleb.
“You’re a real one, you know that?” Caleb squeezed Dae’s cheeks with both hands. “I love you so much.”
“I love you too, Caleb.” Once Dae properly told Avery how happy he was for her and what a beautiful bride she was—which he had to repeat several times to be heard over the music—he started towards the door without a glance at Theo, likely assuming he would follow.
Theo wasn’t sure why that delighted him so much; that it was expected he’d walk him out.
“We should video more,” Theo said as they stepped into the cool evening air, following a stone path through the lawn. “I want to see the upkeep on the haircut.”
Dae cut him a sideways glance. “I thought you said I should change it.”
“Don’t change at all. Promise me.”
He laughed as if Theo were joking.
The breeze was sobering as they passed chatting guests and smokers, lifting Dae’s hair off his forehead and making their shirts ripple.
Their pace slowed as the gate loomed, but there was no stopping their inevitable arrival, and soon, they stood under it.
On one side, the impossibly expansive, lush manor with incongruous dance music pumping from its esteemed hall.
On the other, just another Toronto road with gum stuck on the pavement.
Once Dae passed through the gate, that would be it. Visit over. He’d go see his family, then get on another plane, and Theo wouldn’t see him in person again for another year.
He was working up the nerve to say goodbye when Dae pulled him into a hug. Theo settled his arms around Dae’s middle as their cheeks drifted together. The warmth against Theo’s body was enough to shatter everything inside him.
He couldn’t pull away. It had to be Dae. But it seemed neither of them could muster the strength.
Then, a whisper against Theo’s skin. “If I don’t leave now, I’ll miss my train.”
“So miss your train.”
A pause too long to be anything but regret. “Goodnight, Theo.”
“Say it again.”
“Say what?”
“You know what.”
Dae’s hand drifted to Theo’s neck, the tips of his fingers flirting with his hair. Then he kissed his cheek, slow and gentle, his lips less than a breath away when he said, “I will definitely come back to you, Theo.”
Theo wanted to say thank you, but his breath was gone, and by the time he got it back, Dae was already walking away.