"Holy shit," were the first words out of Chad's mouth. He looked down at the ring in my hands, then looked up at me. "Don't you know how fucked up I am?"
My heart sank. "Now wait a minute--"
"I mean, look where I came from. Nobody in their right mind would want to sign up for that."
"I...." I gulped down a lump in my throat. "I don't think you're fucked up."
"Then I don't know who you're comparing me to."
I wasn't sure how to respond to that. "I'm not comparing you to anyone."
"Don't you get what I'm trying to say?" he asked. "I don't deserve you, Scott."
"But...." My voice trailed off for a second. "Are you saying no?"
Chad rolled his eyes. "I'm saying yes, you crazy ass. I just don't know what you're thinking."
I almost lost it right then. I felt like a huge weight had just lifted off my shoulders. I barely remember Chad reaching for the ring, and us sharing the most incredible kiss. The rest of the city seemed to disappear around us. It seemed like my whole universe was revolving around my man, as if he was all that mattered. All I could see was Chad's face and the side of his beard. All I could feel were his lips against mine and his arms around my back. All I could hear, smell, and taste was his breath.
When we eventually broke off our kiss, we realized our waitress was standing right beside us. The girl didn't seem to know how to react. "O-oh hi," Chad said.
The waitress held up a pepper mill. "Did you guys... I mean, did you want anything for your soup?"
"Uh...." Chad looked at me, then looked back at the waitress. "I'm good."
"Wait," I said as I picked up the wine list. One of the Merlots looked familiar. "We'll have a bottle of the Enorches."
"O-okay sure," she said, and she awkwardly hurried away.
Chad's eyebrows went up. "Enorches?"
"Remember when you got that for me?"
"You mean our first New Years?"
"That's not what I was thinking of," I said. "When you were in D.C., taking care of your dad... remember our little reunion? You surprised me with that same wine."
"Oh... right. I did, didn't I?"
"Anyway, I thought now that we have a whole new reason to celebrate...."
"Yeah," he said, but his voice sounded unusually sad. He looked down at the ring, which was still lying in his hand; he hadn't actually put it on.
"What's wrong?"
"I dunno," he said. "That just made me think of the shit with my dad... the guy who still can't be bothered to say thank you, after all we went through for him. You know what the worst part is?"
"Chad--"
"When we have our wedding or whatever... I don't know if he'll even show up."
I didn't know what to say to that. I just put my hand on Chad's leg, and I looked right in his eyes.
"Anyway," he said, "I guess if he doesn't give a shit about me... at least I've got someone else who does." He paused for a second, then slid the ring on his finger. Finally he held up his newly-bejeweled hand. "How does it look?"
"I-I...." My mouth was still struggling to form words. "Like I always hoped it would," I finally said.
"I seriously can't believe you did this."
I shrugged. "Well... I guess now you know why I'd been acting so weird."
"Wait," he said. "How long had you been planning this?"
"Since March."
"You're kidding me."
"I wanted to make sure I didn't fuck it up," I said. "I almost did, in those last couple seconds."
"Oh for shit's sake," he said. "Did you seriously think I'd say no?"
"I had no idea. I mean you never know...."
Chad looked like he was going to say something else, but just then, the waitress came back with our bottle of wine. She set down a pair of matching glasses, uncorked the bottle, and poured us our wine. "Enjoy," she said.
Chad held up his glass. "This is to... I dunno... being my new fiancΓ©. And eventually my husband."
Those last two words were music to my ears. I didn't really know what to say; I just tapped my glass against his. "To you too," I replied.
We ended up sitting there quite a while, sipping our wine and looking out across the river. As the sky got darker, more and more lights came on in the towers around us. By the time we finally left, night had completely fallen, and a bunch of lights glittered and twinkled around us.
When we headed back toward the train, Chad insisted on holding my hand, and he clutched it in an iron grip. I couldn't help thinking this would've been unimaginable just a few years before. The last time I'd walked down those streets, I could've barely dreamed of having a romantic moment with a dude, much less a dude I was going to marry. Yet here I was, and it was all really happening.
We were almost home when I felt my phone buzz. I tried to ignore it at first, but then it buzzed again and again. I checked my messages and saw a bunch of texts from my mom.
Amy and Dylan just landed
, said the first.
Finally! After three hours delay.
She'd proceeded to give me a play-by-play of them finding each other at the airport. As if I needed to know details.
Dylan says he's hungry
, read her most recent text.
We decided to go to Lou Malnati's. Do you want to join us?
I wanted to tell her to stop being a buzzkill. My gut told me I had more important things on my mind right then, and that Mom needed to butt out. But I forced myself to behave.
No thanks
, I wrote back.
Chad and I have already eaten. Have fun though!
Chad looked over at my phone. "When are we gonna tell them?"
"You mean about us?" I asked. "I mean, we can tell them whenever we want... but this trip is a big deal for Amy too, and I don't want to steal her thunder--"
"I hate to break it to you," he said, "but I don't think there's any way around that. We're gonna need to tell your family in person. It'd be weird if we didn't. So if you think Amy will have a problem with it--"
"I dunno, she'll probably be cool. I mean, at least I hope so...."
"I bet she'd be okay with it," he said. "I mean, your family's way less fucked up than mine."
"Well... it's not that. It's just, you've gotta admit, it's a pretty big announcement to make--"
"Of course it is. But of all the people we're gonna have to tell... I don't think they're the ones we should worry about."
I looked in Chad's eyes. I loved how he seemed so fearless, even though he had a lot more at stake than I did.
"You know," he said, "if I ever run for office, even if it's just for dogcatcher or something... they're always gonna look at me as the gay candidate."
"Chad--"
"I'm not complaining," he said. "I just... I hope you know what you're signing up for."
I just nodded. "Yeah I do," was all I could think to say.
We came home to an empty house. I checked the time, and I tried to gauge when my family would get back. "Come here," Chad said as he shut my bedroom door, and he put his arms around me.
"Fuck," I gasped as our lips started massaging each other, and our tongues wrapped around each other. I clutched Chad's body as tightly as I could, and I ran my hands up and down his back. I felt his boner joust against mine, though we were still fully clothed. "I want you to make love to me," I said between kisses. "For our first time as future husbands."
"Hm," Chad said. "What if I want you to make love to me too?"
"I mean, we can always take turns...."
"I think we're gonna need to," Chad said. "It can be like when we first hooked up. Remember how we flip-fucked that night? When you took my virginity?"
"If you want to put it that way, you took my virginity too. And it's not exactly something I'd forget."
"Me neither," he said, and we went back to making out.