26
B lake, Marin, and Celeste sat crowded around the plywood-and-concrete excuse for a table occupying the middle of Blake and Ryan’s living room.
Celeste held their forehead in one hand and a bowl of pasta in the other.
In front of them was the poster board that they’d written on originally, flipped over to reveal its second side, where Celeste had written every possible condition that the diary had proposed:
-Be taken to the place of death (confirmed)
-Have last wish fulfilled (confirmed)
-Person who wakes them is worthy of their love (unconfirmed)
-Choose to continue living (unconfirmed)
-Be dead for less than ??? amount of time (unconfirmed)
“Look,” they croaked after an extended pause. “I’m not getting any hits on this Brilhart guy online. There’s no way to find out if he had another journal, or if he ever figured out the requirements.
“The most we can do is get Marin to where he died and fulfill his last wish,” Celeste whispered. “If what Brilhart wrote and what Paul said are anything to go by, he’ll remember both by tomorrow.”
“Maybe Noel has an idea?” Blake offered. Celeste shook their head.
“I texted him like an hour ago and he still hasn’t replied.” They sighed.
“We didn’t even end up finding a loophole about my wish,” Marin spoke up. “And if it’s impossible, then…”
It was the first time he hadn’t had anything positive or optimistic to offer about the situation and the change was chilling to Blake.
But in the end, Blake couldn’t blame him—Eric Brilhart’s hypothesis about the amount of time a pygmalion had been dead could very well have been Marin’s death sentence.
No amount of fulfilling requirements could alter time.
“Then we try regardless,” Blake decided, reaching over to take Marin’s hand in his. If Marin wasn’t able to be the voice of optimism, then Blake would be it for all of them. Marin deserved that from him. “That’s been the plan from the beginning, right? To try.”
Marin and Celeste were silent. Celeste speared a meatball with a fork and tore it open with their teeth. Blake looked over at Marin, who was staring down at his food, expression caught between pensive and anxious. His eyes flicked over to Blake and he produced a weak smile, finally speaking:
“What if—?”
Marin was cut off by the front door flying open with a resounding bang as it bounced off of the stopper. The group leapt in place, staring at Matt and Noel, who were standing in the doorway, their arms laden with bags.
“Have no fear, the cavalry is here!” Matt cheered, marching into the living room and dumping a duffle bag on the floor, where it landed with a suspiciously plastic rustle. He stared down at the table, eyes glittering with desire. “Ooh, is that spaghetti?”
“ Matt ?” Blake balked, looking from between his ex and Noel, who was awkwardly inching in behind him. “Noel? What are you—?”
“Noe said you guys were sad so we came with surprises to cheer you up! Also, you should really put your spare key somewhere that isn’t under the doormat, it’s super conspicuous,” Matt declared, dropping into a crouch beside his bag and unzipping it.
“I brought an escape room game, Parcheesi, my entire Magic the Gathering collection, my Switch—”
“I wanted to drop off some treats,” Noel confessed beneath Matt’s ranting, awkwardly indicating the bag in his arms. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to show up unannounced.”
“—Call of Duty, Jackbox Party Pack, and—if you hate yourself—Monopoly!” Matt reached into the bag and pulled out the aforementioned game, holding it above his head with a spinning flourish. “Don’t worry, we’ll be out of your hair in a hot sec.”
“Wait—” Marin said, reaching out for Matt and setting a hand over his sneaker. “You don’t have to leave. Please, sit and stay.”
“Really? Awesome!” Matt cheered, plopping down at the table and promptly helping himself to one of Blake’s meatballs using his bare fingers. Blake made an indignant noise, trying to swat his hand away. “Don’t worry, we already ate so I won’t have to take too much. God damn , this is good!”
“I’m not surprised—it’s my tantine’s boles de picolat recipe.” Celeste glowed, prancing right back into their prideful persona.
“Would it really be okay if we stayed?” Noel asked, closing the door behind himself. “I’m really sorry, I wanted to call ahead but Matt insisted it be a surprise.”
Blake glanced between Marin and Celeste—the latter was soaking up Matt’s attention, their spirits immediately restored, and the former had a genuine smile as he went through the bag of games that Matt had presented them with. He had been the one to insist on the company, but still—
“Are you sure?” Blake asked Marin in a low voice, pressing a light touch to his shoulder.
“Absolutely,” Marin nodded. “The gallery doesn’t open until tomorrow and until then there’s nothing else we can do. I’d… I’d rather have fun with my friends than mope the night away.”
“I have no idea what’s going on, but that’s the spirit!” Matt cheered.
“As long as it’s what you want,” Blake told him, his smile tender.
“It is,” Marin confirmed, returning the expression.
“All right, it’s a party,” Blake concluded. Matt hollered in triumph, pumping his fist in the air. He immediately dove for the bag Noel was holding, extracting several containers filled to bursting with confectionaries.
“Did you rob a bakery?” Celeste choked in disbelief. “Holy shit .”
“I uh,” Noel stuttered, looking sheepish. “I bake when I get nervous.”
“ Clearly .”
“This all looks so good,” Blake marveled, eyes rounding at the sight of a gallon-sized bag overflowing with snowball cookies.
The front door opened once more, Ryan strolling in with his helmet tucked under one arm. He met Celeste’s eyes for a brief moment before they both glanced away from each other, Ryan clearing his throat.
“Hey,” he greeted them, offloading his helmet onto the counter. “Having a party without me?”
“Guess so.” Blake shrugged. “Is that okay?”
“It was kind of an impromptu thing,” Marin laughed.
“Ryan, you’ve got to try one of these,” Matt said, reaching into the Ziploc bag and extracting a cookie. Powdered sugar fell from the sweet, leaving a trail of snow in its wake.
“Hey, as long as there’s food I’m not complaining,” Ryan shrugged, reaching down to accept Matt’s offering. Matt dusted his hands clean on his shorts, reaching into his bag and extracting the disc for the Jackbox party pack.
The night devolved from there.
Several hours later, Matt and Noel were passed out on the sleeper sofa.
Ryan and Marin were crowded around the television, undergoing an intense one-versus-one battle on Super Smash Brothers while talking in hushed tones.
Blake couldn’t hear them over the rush of water as he and Celeste tended to the dishes, but Celeste continuously threw glances over their shoulder, as if checking where Ryan’s attention was.
“You are unfairly good.” Ryan heaved a sigh, setting his controller aside. “I can’t say I’ve ever been bested by a Pikachu main.”
Blake suspected that it had less to do with Marin’s skill and more to do with the furtive looks Ryan had been shooting Celeste throughout the game.
“Thank you both for hanging out with us tonight,” Marin told Ryan and Celeste, being sure to give them both a gracious smile. “I really appreciated the company.”
“No problem,” Ryan told him, his eyes now properly locked with Celeste’s.
“I…” Celeste muttered, dropping their gaze to the kitchen floor and tucking a strand of platinum hair behind their ear. “I should probably get go—”
“Wait,” Ryan interrupted them, pushing up off of the floor. “You don’t have to leave.”
Celeste rested their elbows on the counter, shooting what they probably thought was a surreptitious glance at Blake, their eyes pleading for space.
“Well, we have an early morning tomorrow,” Blake addressed Marin. “We should probably turn in for the night.”
“Agreed.” Marin nodded, slotting the controller back into the Switch. He nodded between the uncomfortable pair. “Sleep well when you get to it. Goodnight.”
Ryan and Celeste were still poised on opposite ends of the living room. Ryan’s eyes were trained on Celeste, while they glanced around at anything but him, hands folded in front of them.
“Night,” Ryan said, attention never leaving Celeste.
“Goodnight,” Celeste said with a gentle incline of their head.
Blake and Marin retired to the other side of the apartment, Blake certain to shut the hall door behind him to give them a bit of extra privacy—although he wasn’t sure how much it would help, considering that Matt and Noel were asleep in the same room.
The awkwardness of the kitchen melted away as they prepared for bed, replaced by the quiet domesticity between Blake and Marin.
Leaning into the intimacy, Blake reached out to comb his fingers through Marin’s soft hair, hesitating a moment before bringing a strand up to his lips and giving it a delicate kiss.
Marin smiled at him, eyes sparkling with warm affection. “You’re so sweet.”
“It’s hard not to be sweet when it comes to you,” Blake admitted, settling the lock of hair down against Marin’s cheek.
Inside Blake’s bedroom, it was cool and dark. Through the wall, Ryan and Celeste could be heard speaking in soft, serious voices, words too low to decipher.
In the dim, warm light of his lamp, Blake watched as Marin began to strip down for the evening. Despite himself, Blake let his eyes twitch over to the sanguine glow of the alarm clock on his nightstand. It was a few minutes past midnight—a little more than twenty-four hours left.