Wilting Flowers

32: A Celebration of Life

The party was Immy's idea.

Honestly, Grim was sick and tired of all of the get-togethers. He wanted to keep Immy all to himself, refusing to let her be exposed to trivial drama when her life was coming to an end. He did, however, recognize that Immy was truly in her element when hosting. As well as this, he recognized that he didn't have the balls to deny her anything she wanted at the moment.

Thursday evening, the house was full.

Old friends, new friends, and anyone in between was invited. It made Grim want to pass out, what with all of the people in his house.

Immy, however, thrived. Grim recognized every tight hug as a goodbye, some form of closure for those who knew her. She had to have known—whether subconsciously or consciously—that every expression of compassion was final.

She was going to go out with a bang, and Grim was fully willing to give her that.

"Hey you two!" She exclaimed, opening the door for Axel and Dally. "Later than usual?"

"We were a little preoccupied," Axel laughed. They shot a smug look at Dally.

Grim rolled his eyes. Subtle. Very Subtle.

"Welcome in, how's wedding planning going?"

She oozed charisma, her grin drawing practically the entire room in.

"Good!" Axel grinned at her. "Although I wish we could've gotten it to a sooner date—" Grim could've sworn he saw them glance at him— "I think it's gonna be amazing."

"What date?"

"March 3rd, two weeks from now."

"You're antsy, then!" Immy squealed. "What are you gonna wear?"

"I'll tell you later, when I'm not in range of my fiance~" They nudged Dally, who chuckled.

"I wanna hear all about it!"

"Spoilers!" Dally protested, laughing.

"I'll tell you," Axel insisted. Dallas tilted his head at them, to which they responded with a mutter, "Trust me."

With that, Grim's throat ached, making him happy he didn't have to speak.

"Well, thank you for coming!" Immy expressed. "Do you want a picture?" She gestured to the Polaroid camera she had in hand and smiled. She was finally putting it to use, taking pictures of all of the guests.

"Of fucking course!" Dally laughed. He pulled Axel close and kissed them, letting Immy take the picture. She giggled as they lingered together even after the click of the camera.

Axel mumbled protests, groaning in exasperation at his affection. They went bright red, pushing him away and grinning. "You asshole!" They yelped.

"Your asshole~"

"Shut up!"

"PDA alert!" Gabriel's voice called from behind the four. Grim turned to him and smiled.

"Please, Gabriel," Grim chuckled. "It's not high school."

"I don't know, man." He sauntered over to them, wine glass in hand. He took a sip.

"Don't drink too much of that, Gabriel," Axel advised. "You've got too many beans to spill," They laughed, the joking remark haunting.

"Who's fault is that?"

"Mine, I know. Keep your mouth shut."

After seeing Dally shoot them another confused look, they sighed and looked at Grim.