Vivre, Live Free

“Kelly what are you doing?” Enda found himself asking, laughter punctuating the sentence. She was grinning and her huge blue eyes were entirely too innocent. At the hesitation in her answer he found himself frowning.

“What do you mean End? I’m just excited to be with my BFF in the park on a lovely spring day!” she exclaimed and yeah, so that was only making him more concerned. It was only when she grabbed his hand to pull him along that he saw the small group of people gathered around a large shade tree. To the left was a couple playing volleyball at the nets and the most adorable group of old people playing horseshoes. Enda wasn’t entirely sure but he always found old people to be insanely endearing.

“End!” At the yell the redhead focused his eyes further onto the group and saw a man there with perfectly trimmed gold hair to his shoulders, waving frantically. Once they got closer Enda knew his eyes would be the same gold s Casey’s but different somehow, kinder. The girl hanging from his waist wasn’t at all familiar but she was waving anyway as were the other two.

“I thought Coby moved,” Enda said, looking to Kelly in surprise.

“He did but he came back with his brother, and to show his fiancé where he grew up,” she agreed. Enda laughed, loud and uninhibited, as he took off at a run. Coby met him halfway after detaching himself from the girl. It shouldn’t have surprised him, Enda knew that, but it still did when what looked to be Casey’s face suddenly grinned at him. When Coby jumped, legs wrapping around his waist, he almost dropped him at the impossibly painful twist in his stomach.

“End! How’ve you been?” he demanded. “You had better not still be mourning the loss of your asshole ex,” he said chidingly once he’d let Enda put him down. At Enda’s sheepish look Coby gave him a punch on the arm. “No. Casey is a dick, ok? I’m his brother and I think that. He isn’t even worth it.”

“He knows that but he’s stubborn,” Kelly spoke now that she had caught up to the group.

“I was with him for two years,” Enda said, trying to defend himself. “It’s just weird without him.”

“Well we aren’t letting him ruin this as well,” the girl, Coby’s fiancé Enda assumed, said as she wrapped her arm around his shoulders. “I’ve been dying to meet you both with all that Coby talks about you. I’m Cheryl.”

“Enda,” he introduced himself and she grinned, ignoring his outstretched hand in favor of a hug. He liked her exuberance. There was a spark that seemed to radiate from Cheryl, a gorgeous light that matched Coby’s perfectly. They contrasted each other nicely too, Enda decided. Her hair was almost black and the tone of her skin immediately made him think of a Native American princess. She was completely stunning and for all Coby’s blond hair and blue eyes she was darker, opposite and it was obvious that his friend was completely smitten.

Once Cheryl had introduced herself as well the four of them made their way back to the shade of the tree, escaping the sun. Enda realized, after noting that the brunette man in front of him had dyed hair and was not in fact a brunette, that he was Marcus. He hadn’t seen the man in at least a year though throughout high school they had been good friends; not as good as Coby and Enda but still close to it.

From next to him, leaning against the tree trunk and sitting down, dark eyes watched his movements closely and Enda couldn’t help the instant discomfort he felt around the other man. He had hair just as dark as Cheryl’s but he was pale, more so than Enda and that was quite a feat considering he was a natural redhead.

“End, hey man. How’ve you been?” Marcus asked as he pushed himself to his feet. Out of habit Enda went to hug him but pulled up short when Marcus only held out a hand.

“Okay. You?” he asked and tried to mask his hurt and confusion. Since when were they so… formal towards each other? From the ground the man with dark eyes was still watching, assessing Enda realized. He recognized that look from the cops in his family but this man certainly wasn’t old enough to be one of them. It was only when Enda explicitly asked who he was that Marcus spoke up.

“Zeke, my boyfriend of three months,” he said with a proud smile. “Come on, come say hi!” Zeke pushed himself off the ground and held out a hand though he didn’t actually speak.

“Nice to meet you,” Enda told him despite the awkwardness of it all and Zeke gave him a short nod.

“So let’s go have fun!” Cheryl spoke up, breaking the silence. Everyone agreed, except Zeke of course, and they all stood up, heading into the largest of the clearings at the park. It was only when they actually reached a soccer field that he noticed Coby had one with him. Of course. They had spent middle and high school on the soccer team.

“My team!” Kelly said immediately as she grabbed Enda, smiling triumphantly as they all broke into two groups.

“Have fun?” Kelly asked Enda as they were walking towards the parking lot, dusk finally having set in. The entire park was bathed in a soft glowing light that Enda adored. Coby and Cheryl were a few paces behind and Marcus and Zeke had left earlier.

“Yeah, it was amazing. Thank you Kelly,” he said sincerely, kissing her cheek. Enda found he couldn’t remember the last time he had actually smiled like that. He wondered if he ever had after graduation, which was three years previous.

“You seemed like you missed soccer.”

“I did. With Coby here and all, its like nothing ever changed. It’s like flying.”