The Recital of Terrance Reed

Chapter Sixteen

Alec sighed deeply in sorrow. "My mum died. I went downhill. It was the roughest year of my life. I didn't keep up with my workouts, lost all connections with my friends, and distanced myself from everyone. I stayed at my mum's house for that year. I didn't touch my phone at all. I destroyed it." He stopped for a moment and looked down. He started crying.

Kyle and I went up to him and comforted him.

"Sorry, guys," He murmured.

"Never are sorry," Kyle whispered to him.

"Never are sorry, Alec. Trust me. We understand," I uttered. While rubbing his back.

"Thank you, guys," He whimpered. He wiped his eyes and took a deep, shaky breath. "I appreciate the support."

"Don't mention it," I said.

"So, how did you two lovebirds find each other?"

Kyle and I stared at each other.

"Well, we haven't moved the patio stuff yet," I said.

"And we still have coolers and some hard liquor?" Kyle followed afterwards, staring at Alec.

"If you care to catch up more?" I asked Alec.

"I would love that," He whispered. He wiped more of his tears away.

Alec grabbed my hands and kissed them. Then, he let put his arms over both of us. We walked into the almost-vacant house and started bantering.

"So, I suppose you can say that Kyle was a jerk at first--"

• • •

As time passed, Kyle and I were building each other up. We had to, or we wouldn't work out. And from there, we just kept building these beautiful walls. We had to trust each other to complete each other's mantras. Our small thread soon weaved into a beautiful relationship. Our understanding of each other was stalwart. There was nothing between us that broke us.

So, our decision to proceed with the wedding was terrifying and exciting. I thought I was making a stupid decision at first, but now, it was everything I wanted. Everything I didn't know I needed in my life until now.

My love for Kyle grew over time, and I had to accept that love was more than just hand-holding and kissing. It was the connection between souls intertwining their lives together with solid love. It was unfathomable at first because I thought I couldn't love.

Because for the longest time, I was the Senior Wallflower Terrance Reed. Now I am just Wallflower to Kyle. Nothing more. Just the way I liked it. As it always should have been. Just that.

• • •

The club placed the lanterns above our heads, the sparkles of the projected night sky laid upon the roof of the clubroom, and the strobe lights bounced up and down. It was the bachelor party Sandy had planned for me and Kyle. Since we had few friends, it was just Alec and Sandy. But it would suffice because nothing was going to be as better than this. It was bad luck to share the same bachelor night as the husbands-to-be. But. We didn't have many people to share the night with. I was okay with that. Sandy pushed me to the dance floor.

"I don't know how to dance!" I shouted.

"Oh, shut up!" Sandy cried.

She started raising her arms and dancing like nobody was watching her. Kyle was in the distance, laughing and mingling with Alec. Then, we met eyes, and I waved at him. He raised his drink at me.

"Okay, okay!" I cried.

I point my finger in the air. I clenched my bottom lip with my teeth and closed my eyes. I bounced my head up and down to the sound of the beat. I tapped my heels. I moved my hands upward and waved them. I thrust my hips. I knew that the hundreds of people around me were probably watching me because of the amount of laughter. But I kept my eyes closed. I continued thrusting my hips. Then, I grabbed my thighs and started shaking my butt to the drop. I opened my eyes, and nobody was watching.