Kiss Me Tenderly

The rest of the night passed in a blur, both the Barakat and Gaskarth parents rushing over almost immediately after, competing to be the first to hug and congratulate us. Co workers descended like birds of prey, shaking hands, crying out their happiness at our engagement. All the way in the corner, Kris shouted his very gay congratulations over the tumult in the restaurant, tucked up against Zack’s side. I nudged Alex and he grinned and giggled, excited that his best friend and my best friend were together at our party like it was nothing.
Owen, Sassy, and Missy ended up taking their crayons and drawing all over their menus, bickering over who got the red crayon, not at all upset that they weren’t the center of attention like they usually were if we took them anywhere with us. Alex and I had to take the crayons away before someone started crying and we stifled laughter at their dejected faces when they were told they weren’t allowed to color if they weren’t going to behave. With no regard for our fancy outfits, the kids crawled into our laps, begging for hugs and kisses, prompting a wave of phones pulled out for ‘future reference’; I was ninety eight percent sure all of those pictures were going on Facebook and Instagram and the like. The professional photographer I had hired just for tonight, for this special moment in time, snapped pictures, moving us this way and that, laughing at the antics of the children when they didn’t want to take pictures anymore.
Everything was perfect, I decided after dinner, my arm squeezing my fiance against my body, watching the kids sleepily play tic tac toe with their grandparents. The table was littered with the wrappings of chopsticks, emptied sushi plates, dishes of soy sauce and wasabi laying stagnant.
I sighed in contentment.
Suddenly, a hand put down a plate we hadn’t ordered, a delicious looking concoction of what looked like deep fried cheesecake and ice cream, strawberry and chocolate sauce, and whipped cream. Confusion ran through me. What was this?
“Oh, sorry, we didn’t order this,” I began, looking up at the person who brought it to us, seeing a familiar face that wasn’t so welcome. Alex and I both blinked, shocked at the sight.
“Nick?”
“Uh, hey guys,” Nick looked nervous which made me immediately suspicious. What the fuck is he doing here at our engagement party? Emotions swirled, anger, confusion.
I could feel Alex’s body tremble underneath my fingertips, moving closer to me, and my grip around him tightened.
“What are you doing here?” My tone was harsh and Nick flinched, running a hand through his flaming red hair.
“Well, I work here so…” His voice trailed off and upon seeing my eyes narrow almost dangerously, he rushed on. “I just.. I wanted to apologize. To the both of you. For being such a dick all the time. And to offer my sincerest congratulations.”
At this, my eyebrows shot up, my eyes snapping towards Alex who was staring at him with his jaw dropped open. Sincerest congratulations? From Nick?
“Look,” he sighed, dropping into the chair across from us, running a hand rather feverishly through his scruffy ginger hair, letting his hand fall from his hair to the table top with a smack. “I’m a dick, I get it. I know you guys probably don’t want to see me on your happiest day but I just couldn’t.. I just couldn’t let you guys go without telling you how sorry I am about hurting Alex before.”
Alex’s voice was rough and whispery when he answered. “Why the sudden change of heart now?”
A soft smile touched his lips. “I thought you might ask that. It’s Greyson, actually. He made me see that what I was doing was not okay and he’s wild and adorable and perfect and he’s never afraid to call me out on my bull shit and I think I might love him. He convinced me this was the right thing to do, has been buggering me to do it for ages, and well… Tonight I finally got the courage to do it.” He stood up, his gaze lingering on the two of us. “I don’t have anything more to say and I don’t expect you to forgive me right away so I’ll leave you in peace. Like I said before, my sincerest congratulations and my deepest apologies.” We sat in shock. Well, that was unexpected.
How the hell are we supposed to respond to that?
Nick had almost disappeared back into the throng of people chattering like a herd of monkeys when Alex finally said something.
“I forgive you.” He didn’t turn around, probably because he didn’t hear him, and Alex cleared his throat and called out to him a little louder. “I forgive you, Nick, okay?”
Nick turned and flashed us a grin, mouthing a quick Thank you before disappearing from our sights completely. Alex was smiling as he snuggled back into my side, happy that he didn’t have to deal with the threat of Nick looming heavy over our heads anymore. But I couldn’t help seeing something sinister in that smile and I told Alex so, a frown creasing his beautiful face.
“Lighten up, Jacky,” he chided, a soft hand on my cheek to direct my attention towards him instead of at where Nick had so casually vanished. “I’m a big boy, I can handle myself. Forgiving the guy who hurt me all that time ago is the right thing to do. It’ll be fine, it’s not like I invited him to be in my wedding party or anything.”
Still worried, I pressed closer to him, leaning towards him, a gentle brush of lips. A harder press, slotting our lips together, trying to reassure myself that what Alex had just done, what Nick had just said, would turn out okay, that I was just being a huge worry wart.
“I trust you.” My voice shook slightly. “It’s him I don’t trust.”