Chapter 40

I pull my tie straight in the mirror, looking myself up and down for probably the millionth time.

"Don't look at me like that," I tell Albert to is also sitting in front og the mirror, his little tuxedo that he is wearing making him look even more adorable than ever. "I have to look myself over again. I'm not like you, who is naturally the most handsome man in any room. I need to actually do some work."

Albert gives a sneeze and then gets up and walks away, probably looking for the exit so that he can defile yet another one of the ugly pot plants Cameron told him to pee against.

"Yes! Go and leave me all alone to be a bundle of anxiety. Don't mind me going crazy in my head about seeing E.J. and Chris on top of it all. It's completely okay," I say after him, but he has already left the room, bored of me saying the same thing over and over again.

I start styling my hair when there is a knock on the door.

"Come in," I say, after which the door almost immediately opens.

"I just saw Cameron," Will says walking into the room. I can't help but notice how handsome he is looking in his ivory suit, and the...

"Is that a Slytherin tie?" I ask, a frown appearing on my face. "You know you are getting married in two hours right? Don't tell me we were so hard on you at the bachelors party that you ended up taking the wrong tie."

"You know I didn't drink last night. I promised Cameron I wouldn't. The tie was actually Cameron's idea, so that I can have something Harry Potter at the wedding. He thought it would be a sweet little inside joke between him and me. But seriously now, I saw Cameron, and he doesn't look good at all," Will says. He is talking at such a fast pace that I almost want to take him by the shoulders and sit him down on a chair so that he can just calm down for a second.

"You know that seeing the bride before the wedding is bad luck," I say, trying my best to make Will smile, but he doesn't.

"I have a really bad feeling. Grace came to me this morning. She had one of her dreams. She knows things, from her dreams. She said her mother appeared to her and told her that the sparrow will fly away. And then a pink sparrow in her dreams flew from its cage out the window," Will tries his best to explain.

"I don't think I am following you," I answer, trying to piece together Grace's dream and what on earth it might have to do with Cameron not being okay.

"Well, Grace sometimes dreams weird dreams. They show the future. It's hard to explain, and I know you must think I am crazy, but just bare with me. Grace has never gotten it wrong, and with her Voodoo things and everything... She thinks that Cameron is gonna leave me at the altar because of something I am going to say or do, and I am kinda freaking out at the moment," Will says, and then just as I thought he should, he actually does take a seat on the bed.

"I don't think you're crazy. I did things with Chris just because a Tarot card reader told me I would," I say with a goofy smile. "So I kinda get it. But I also think that we control our own lives. No dream or Tarot card, or even a bloody crystal ball can make us do things we do not want to do."

"You're probably right. But Cameron isn't himself. He was barely talking to me when I saw him to make sure he is okay," Will sighs, gets up and then adjusts his already perfect tie in the mirror just like I did a few minutes ago.

"And are you okay? Damn, I think everyone in the house has major anxiety at this point. In two hours from now you are gonna be a married man. Before that I still need to face E.J. Cameron is probably worried about how the pictures are gonna turn out, if the gumbo will be enough, and the ruffles not too poofy or something like that. You know he is a freak for detail. Plus, I am pretty sure he is wondering if he should have ordered a muzzle and made Jessica-Lynne wear it for the day," I say and laugh a little bit about my own joke about Jessica-Lynna, although I also know I am dead serious about it deep down inside.

"Yeah, that girl seriously needs a muzzle. And I think she's kinda pissed that Cameron asked Grace to be his matron of honor instead of her," he says and chuckles a little bit. "But I guess you are right. We are all just hyped up for the day, and knowing Cameron he is probably worried about every single ruffle."

"Exactly," I say. "So maybe you need to check outside that everything is perfect between the grapevines, and that the rose petal path is scattered just right. We don't want Cameron to run up and down the path to make sure everything is perfect when the wedding march is already playing. Plus, I will go and check on Cameron just now."

"You're right," Will sighs. "I just love him so very much, and I cannot imagine a life without him. It really got to me what Jessica-Lynne said about us doing things so fast, but when you know you know. I knew from the moment I met Cameron that I do not want to spend a single minute of my life without him. Have I ever told you how I asked him to marry me?"

"No you didn't," I say, pretending that Cameron hasn't already told me the story a hundred times.

"I went out to go and search for the perfect ring. It needed to be big, and crazy expensive, and something that not only Cameron, but also Lady Lalaland would love. It couldn't be small or a white diamond, or any of the usual things. I told this to Grace, and she was the one that came back to me about the pink diamond ring," Will says, and I can see in his smile how mesmerized he must have been with finding the right ring. "It felt like fate. Pink diamonds aren't exactly easy to come by, and especially not in that size, and there one was, going up for sale the very next day at Christies. On top of everything, the ring used to belong to some Duchess from Italy. A ring for royalty for my prince. It was perfect."

"It kinda sounds like a fairytale," I tell Will, trying to imagine finding a priceless jewel like that which I know is just the perfect one for the person I love.

"Grace told me the next evening that she ended up being the highest bidder and that she got me the ring. Two days later I had the ring in my hand. I don't think I have ever seen anything so big. For a moment I was worried about spending so much, but my dad assured me that it was a great investment to make in such a stone, and that you could in any case not put a price on love," Will continues to recount the past. "In any case. I had the perfect ring. I just needed the perfect way to ask Cameron to marry me. A dinner in a restaurant, and even a candlelight dinner seemed too plain. I needed something bigger and better, or something more memorable. And I know Cameron would have been fine if I asked him in bed with pajamas on, but I wanted to show him I would do my everything to show him how much I care. So the next plan was a hot air balloon."

"Fuck... A hot air balloon?" I ask, even though I know full well that's not how it happened.

"So then my dad came up with a brilliant idea. He told me to build Cameron a treehouse, and ask him inside the treehouse after a picnic, so that's what I ended up doing. I had some carpenters come out and built a treehouse in the old oak near the river. After that I painted the inside myself, layed down a carpet, asked Grace to cook us some of Cameron's favorite foods, and we ended up having a picnic in a treehouse, overlooking the river. As the sun set over the plantation, and the sun made stripes on the water, I took the ring out of my pocket and on my knees I promised Cameron that I would love him for longer than what it takes to form a stone like I am using to show a portion of the love I have for him. The rest you know. He said yes, and here we are, ready to make our love eternal."

Will looks at me, tears in his eyes, and I only hope that I will feel the way he feels the day I get to be married. Then again, I might have permanently fucked up my happily ever after, and the only way left might just be the three point bucket list I have written, which I still carry in my back pocket no matter where I go.

"I hope I have that someday," I answer, really meaning it with everything in me.

"Maybe sooner than you think buddy," Will answers. "I think it's time you actually tell E.J. how you really feel. He'll be here soon."

"Yeah, and Chris is coming with him," I answer, surprised by the bitterness in my voice.

And just like clockwork there is a knock at the door, but the person opens before I have a chance to answer.

"Sorry sugar," Grace says, sticking her head in the door. "Your friends from the city are here and asked about you. Did you want me to send them in?"

"Thanks Grace," I answer. "Tell them I will be there in a bit. I actually wanted to make a turn by Cameron before I come and greet them."

"That's just fine and dandy," Grace says before she disappears, closing the door behind her.

"I should probably also get a move on," Will says with a smile. "And thanks Brody."

"For what?" I ask.

"For making me remember that today isn't about Grace's dreams, or gumbo, or Jessica-Lynne not being able to shut the fuck up. It's about Cameron and me and the love we share. The rest doesn't matter at all," Will says, leaning in and hugging me tightly against him.

"Cameron is one lucky guy," I say.

"Nope. I'm the lucky one," Will says as he lets go of me. "And now I need to get ready to be a married man."

With a laugh he walks out the door, just as I begin looking for Albert who I find out on the balcony, still sniffing everything he comes into contact with.

"Come boy, we need to go check up on Cameron," I tell him, making him look up at me and give one of his now infamous sneezes.

I turn around, allowing Albert to follow me through the dining room area, and then into the sitting room.

"Hey Brody."

I look at him. I have never seen him in a suit, but he cleans up really well. I don't think I have ever seen E.J. look this handsome, and for a moment I need to bring myself back from a daydream where he stands across from me, dressed up like this, ready to whisper the words 'I do,' before it ends in a kiss that gives the promise of forever.

"I didn't hear you come in," I say. "Hey Chris."

I nod to Chris who is standing two steps behind E.J. He nods back but doesn't say a word.

"I thought the three of us should talk before the ceremony. I don't think it's a good idea to go out there with things left unsaid and risking ruining Cameron and Will's day," E.J. says, which does give me a little bit of hope. He wouldn't want to talk if there was no hope at all.

"Sure," I answer, showing E.J. to take a seat on one of the couches, while I sit down on the daybed that Cameron occupied on the first day I got here.

"I just... Brody, I need to know why you did what you did," E.J. says, folding his hands into each other.

"It doesn't matter. It happened," Chris answers before I even have a chance to speak.

Albert jumps up next to me before I can get up and punch Chris through a wall. Instead, I pull Albert onto my lap and hug him against me, as if he will really keep me safe from myself.

"Chris. I need you to stop lying right now. I need you to tell E.J. what really happened. If you don't I will tell him everything. About you coming home with ripped clothing and blood. How I nursed you. How you made me breakfast when you were better. And I will tell him the reason behind everything," I say through gritted teeth.

"I told you that in confidence," Chris says back. I can see him getting red around the collar.

"You lost my loyalty the moment that you accused me of rape. Fuck, we didn't even have intercourse. Is that what he told you E.J.? Because I wasn't the one who raped him. I'm pretty sure he has been raped. Maybe more than once, but it sure as hell wasn't me. You should ask Chris about Jaycee," I say. I can hear my voice getting louder and higher and a bit more hysterical as Albert starts whining softly in my arms, trying his best to get to my face to lick it.

"What the hell is Brody talking about?" E.J. asks, turning towards Chris.

"He's talking out of his ass. He knows you hate him for what he's done and now he wants to come between you and me," Chris says keeping his face as neutral as possible, but I can see him biting on his teeth.

"You and him?" I ask. "As in the two of you together? Then all the better that E.J. knows the truth about your side hustle."

On the last words I draw out the word, looking Chris straight in the eye, daring him to continue his lie so that I can finally tell E.J. about the job he really does.

"Don't you dare," Chris answers, looking daggers at me.

"Oh, I will, unless you come clean yourself," I answer, putting Albert down on the ground and raising myself off the daybed. I'd rather be prepared, because if he continues this lie, he might need to hustle a while longer in order to afford the nose job he will need once I am finished with him.

"Chris?" E.J. asks again, his face looking worried.

"Brody didn't rape me. He gave me a blowjob. That's it. Nothing else happened," Chris says. "I just wanted this piece of shit out of your life, and I knew if you thought he raped me you would send him packing, and finally fucking give the two of us a chance."

"Why would you do that?" E.J. asks as he stands up as well, leaving all three of us on our feet. "Why would you use something like that to keep Brody away from me? You know what I've been through. You know how much this affected me. You can't say that it didn't get to you when I was sitting and crying about what I allowed to happen to you? You put me through fucking hell."

I can hear the tears in E.J. welling up and I want more than anything to walk over and pull him against me and tell him that everything is going to be okay and that I am not mad at him at all.

"I just thought that finally we would have a chance. Without other people meddling. I mean, I have loved you for years, and I have respected staying away from you because of your past, but then a douche with a face like a monster comes onto the scene and all of a sudden you can open your legs and..."

Chris however doesn't get to finish his sentence as E.J. punches him with full force against his jaw, making Chris stagger back, lose his balance, and fall onto the couch.

"I will fucking end you..." E.J. breathes, and I know that if I don't stop him he will probably keep his word and end Chris.

Before I can however intervene and stop the fight the door bursts open and Will comes running in.

For a moment everything seems to stop as we all look at Will, whose hair is standing in every possible direction, just as he looks at us, standing in what must be a very weird formation.

"Cameron's gone," he says, and then he bursts out in tears.