34
Ninety Minutes Remaining
T he warmth that Adrien’s family exuded was contagious.
Blake spent the rest of the evening in the back room of the gallery with them, his fingers entwined with Adrien’s as the siblings caught up and reminisced.
They had taken the pygmalion situation with understanding and grace—which Blake chalked up to having grown up around the supernatural.
Having a merman for a brother must have tempered their shock.
Despite their mother’s abuse, both Jessica and David had grown up well, attributing their success to their brother’s parenting.
Jessica had become a prevalent art dealer, working out of Los Angeles and New York, and had been happily married to Kimberly for many years.
Their children—Olivia and AJ—were bright, sweet children who reminded Blake a great deal of Adrien himself.
They were mesmerized by his sudden appearance, flooding him with questions and affection.
David had a rougher time, struggling with agoraphobia and CPTSD for many years before becoming a motivational speaker and advocate against child abuse.
In the mid 2000’s the pair had seen the rise in popularity of their brother’s work in murals and art installations in the Bay Area and decided to begin selling the rights to use them—in photo books, as posters, on clothing popular with fashion designers.
The majority of the funds had been donated to LGBTQ+ organizations in their brother’s memory, but they had always set aside a healthy amount for college funds or in case of family emergencies.
Joyce Porter had never seen a cent of it. She’d passed away several weeks after Adrien Porter-Marin had died in the ocean.
“We never published an obituary for him,” David explained when Blake inquired.
Their mother hadn’t allowed them to print it in the paper, so the only form of obituary that Adrien received had been contained to the funerary program alone, unable to be searched for in databases.
The amount of vitriol Joyce had held for her son up until the final moments of her life filled Blake with repulsion.
“The one thing I’m curious about, though, is where my pygmalion came from,” Adrien asked, looking around at those gathered. “We were able to find out that I came from somewhere called Splashgr—”
“Splashgrounds Manufacturing?!” Jessica cut in, her eyes wide.
She brought her hands to her mouth, shaking her head in disbelief.
“I… I worked there! Right after you died, I was interning there doing sculpture work for their decorations and I—one day, while I was working, I stepped back and realized that the figurehead I’d been making looked—it looked so much like you, Adrien.
I… I didn’t even mean for it to happen. You’ve always been on my mind.
I had no idea something like this could have ever happened! ”
Adrien smiled, reaching across the small circle of chairs and gathering up Jessica’s hands into his own.
“Thank you for giving me this chance, Jess. It’s all because of you that this was able to happen.
Because of the selfless love you poured into that carving.
” He reached back, taking Blake’s hand once more. “And that I was able to meet Blake.”
“So are you guys gonna get married now?” Olivia asked from where she sat cross-legged beside Blake. His face flushed as Adrien and Jessica pitched forward with laughter. David set a hand on her shoulder, wagging his finger with the other.
“Liv, usually those things take at least a few years to decide,” he told her. Olivia looked unconvinced, crossing her arms over her chest and pouting. David laughed. “They’ve only known each other for a few days .”
“Yeah but it’s different if it’s true love ,” she insisted in a haughty mumble. “Which is why it’s definitely gonna be a happily ever after, right?”
“That’s right!” AJ cheered. “You got to see Mom and Uncle Dave again, so all that’s left is to go back to the beach, yeah?”
Blake did his best to suppress anxiety from flashing across his features, not wanting to upset the kids—if only it were that easy. There were still a dozen unknown factors that could take Adrien away from them in a matter of hours.
Adrien didn’t say anything. He produced a melancholic smile and stood, reaching out to gather his niblings into his arms, one tucked up against each cheek. He pressed a kiss to their heads in turn, squeezing them tightly.
“I’m so happy I got to meet you two,” he whispered, brows drawing together in desperation. “You’re such great kids.”
He released them, patting AJ’s head once before turning to Kimberly, extending a hand towards her. Kim took it with both of hers, beaming up at Adrien.
“Thank you for taking care of my sister when I couldn’t,” he said, squeezing her hand. “You’re an incredible woman, Kimberly—I’m honored to have gotten the chance to meet you.”
“Thank you for raising such an amazing woman, Adrien,” Kimberly said, reaching up to push a tear from her eye with the round of her palm. “I’ve only ever heard such wonderful things about you—getting to meet you like this tonight… I can’t put into words how much it means to us.”
Finally, Adrien turned to his brother and sister. The morose smile he wore faded away, the corners of his mouth drooping, and it was like someone was trying to pry Blake’s heart out with a dagger.
Adrien didn’t need to speak. Jessica immediately stood and wrapped her arms around him, David joining their embrace a moment later.
“Blake and I need to do this last part alone,” Adrien said. His voice was so quiet that Blake could barely hear what he was saying. Jessica nodded into his clavicle, pulling away and holding his face in her hands. Rolling up onto the tips of her toes, she pressed a chaste kiss to his forehead.
“You’ll be back,” she whispered into his temple. “I have every confidence that you will be back, Adrien.”
The three parted and Jessica turned towards Blake.
To his surprise, she extended her hands towards him as well, holding his cheeks and gently guiding him down to her height.
For a moment, Blake thought she was going to threaten him, but instead she brought her mouth up to his hairline as well, brushing her cool, dry lips against it.
Blake pulled away enough to see Jessica squeeze a small tear out of the corner of her eye. Despite himself, Blake’s eyes misted up as well, lower limbs trembling and numb as Jessica drew him close. In a low whisper, she said:
“Thank you for bringing our brother back to us.”
It was as if a hand had seized Blake’s heart.
If only she knew who had taken him away.
?
In just over an hour, Blake and Adrien had arrived at the outskirts of the city, upon the shores of the Pacific Ocean.
They sat in the cool sand of Ocean Beach, watching the moonlight ripple in the waves beyond them.
Blake looked down at his phone on the blanket beside him.
One-twenty AM. He had an alarm set at the approximate time Adrien was supposed to disappear. They only had ten minutes left.
Blake’s eyes roamed to where the breakwater was, the place in his memory becoming clearer as he reminisced on the end of Adrien’s story.
He hadn’t known what to say when he’d realized.
Didn’t want to make the confession when Adrien was so anxious to see his family again, or when he’d been spending time with them.
Instead, Blake drew him close.
“I’m sorry,” Blake whispered into his hairline. His pulse was picking up speed, fingers beginning to tremble. “I’m so sorry, Adrien.”
“Blake.”
Blake pulled back to meet Adrien’s eyes. They were glowing softly, although Blake couldn’t tell if it was from the moonlight or something else. Adrien set his hand over the back of Blake’s, rubbing his thumb over the length of his pointer finger.
“What are you apologizing for? I’m so, so happy to have met you. These last few days… have been some of the most wonderful of my life. Thank you.”
“Mari— Adrien .” Blake’s throat grew thick. He choked, eyes stinging. Tears prickled at the base of his eyes, behind the bridge of his nose. He didn’t want to break down, couldn’t bear to show Adrien his weakness when he needed Blake most but—
“It was me.” He coughed. The confession gave him no relief, the guilt building. “The boy you rescued from the water—that was me . Adrien, the reason you died was—”
He trailed off, words failing him. He didn’t know what to say, how to apologize for being such an integral part of Adrien’s demise. Maybe even twice over.
Adrien rested his forehead on the crown of Blake’s head.
“Then I’m glad,” Adrien said, voice soft and honest.
“What?” Blake balked, rearing back. Adrien laced their fingers together insistently, pressing their joined hands against Blake’s chest.
“I’m glad to have made that sacrifice, to have saved you,” Adrien told him. “Knowing that it wasn’t meaningless, that I was able to give you so many more years.”
“I’d give you the rest of mine,” Blake hissed through his tears, trying not to sob.
He could already tell that his face was becoming an absolute mess.
“If I could, I’d give you all the time I had left, and every day from here on out would be your best day alive, Marin.
Adrien . I… I love you. I know I’ve only known you for four days, but…
I love you so much. You’re the kindest, most patient and… and warm…”
He couldn’t talk anymore, his words evaporated into loud sobs. Adrien was quiet, simply holding him.
“Why are you talking like that?” he asked, stroking Blake’s head in soothing circles. “Why do you sound like we’re never going to see each other again?”
“We’re out of time,” Blake said with a thick sniff. “We still don’t know what the requirements were, and there’s no time left to—”
Adrien kissed him.
Through the tears and snot dripping down his nose and face, Adrien kissed him.
“Take me down to the water,” he told Blake.
Hand-and-hand they traveled barefoot down the beach, to where the sand was damp and firm. The wind tousled their hair and clothing. Out on the Pacific, Blake could see a freighter ship coming into the bay, the lights on its deck trembling like yellow stars in the distance.
Afraid that Adrien would turn, Blake picked him up bridal style. Adrien went easily into his arms, face resting at the crook of Blake’s neck.
Blake didn’t know what to say. He didn’t know if there was anything else to say.
The waves crashed around his shins, burying his ankles in the sand.
Staring out over the ocean together, Blake remembered a part of Adrien’s story.
“So when they buried the bodies in Colma, they used some of the old graves to make the breakwater: that way it would help protect the people living close to the beach from big waves.”
“So… the dead helped the living?”
“Yeah, I guess they did.”
Up higher on the beach, Blake heard his phone go off. His heart clenched.
Adrien reached out to him, fingers finding his jaw and turning Blake to face him.
Beneath the coastal moonlight Adrien’s tan skin looked so pale—maybe too pale—as he sheltered in the safety of Blake’s arms. He was cold, and Blake couldn’t be sure if it was from the same icy dread nestling into the pit of his chest, the chill of the sea breeze, or…
His phone alarm was still ringing.
But Adrien was smiling, voice gentle but sure.
“I love you, too.”