Two years later
"That was fucking great" Mei said as we walked out of the venue our graduation commencement ceremony had just been held. Or at least, we tried to walk out, given that we were surrounded by tens of thousands people also trying to exit the place.
"It was...a lot. But yeah, it was pretty amazing. I didn't think I was gonna cry" I laughed.
"Yeah, you were bawling your eyes out" Vic said, hand in hand with Mei. The two had been together for a little more than a year by then, and I honestly was happier for them each time I saw them together. It had taken them almost a year to actually get together after something first happened, but all's well that ends well.
"As if you weren't like that at your graduation last week" I rolled my eyes at her.
"I was just stating a fact. I know it's a big emotional moment" she patted my shoulder. "I'm proud of both of you" she added, moments before Mei kissed her, and the kiss went on more than I thought it would. I sometimes still needed to get used to being the third wheel.
Part of me couldn't believe I'd actually graduated and earned a whole degree even if it'd been more than six months since it happened. Attending the ceremony so many months later made me feel all of the emotions linked to it again.
And I'd also just started the master's degree I'd been dreaming of being accepted into, which felt even better. It hadn't been an easy process, I'd put an insane amount of stress on myself in order to get the highest marks in everything and it had often taken a toll on my mental health, I'd even thought of leaving everything at some point, but I luckily didn't.
That, paired along with the few encounters I'd had with my parents over the previous two years, leading me to finally admitting that I was better off without trying to win their love and approval back, had definitely contributed to making that period of time a not easy to live one. But luckily, I was never alone during it.
Both Vic's and Mei's parents said they'd wait for us where their cars were parked, because they were in a different part of the venue and it would have taken too long to find them inside.
I'd only briefly met Mei's parents a few times before, but they were both incredibly kind and welcoming people. And I'd been seeing Vic's family every now and then because I didn't want to not go to my hometown ever again, and they kindly allowed me to spend time at Vic's house whenever I wanted to go back.
But it kind of still felt weird to just be standing there as both my friends hugged and greeted their parents. Until Vic's mom unexpectedly pulled me into a hug too.
"Hi Ellie" she said with a radiant smile. "I'm so incredibly proud of you, never forget that"
"Thank you, Monique" I couldn't help but smile back.
"Hi Ellie! The ceremony was great, wasn't it?" Mei's mom said immediately after.
"It was" I nodded, still smiling.
"You're coming along for lunch with us, right?" she added.
"Uh, yes, of course. But I'm gonna meet my girlfriend first. You can go ahead, though, I think it's gonna be a while before I find her here" I said. "She can drive me there, also"
Sam had been with all the other professors in the completely opposite side of the venue, and I'd probably spent most of the ceremony trying to unsuccessfully spot her among all the people.
I'd only told more about Sam, and that she was a professor at my university, to Vic's parents once I graduated, a few months earlier. Although I knew they wouldn't be judgy about it and that I could trust them with that information, I wanted to make sure she officially wasn't in my course's faculty before telling them. I never added the detail of her being my professor for the whole first year, but they probably figured, given that they knew she taught English.
"Why doesn't she come along? It'd be nice to meet the girl who's been making you so happy for years now" Monique asked.
"Yes, Sam should absolutely come along! It's been a while" Vic agreed.
"Oh, I think she has some kind of business lunch. But I can still ask her" I replied, feeling kind of stupid at using Sam's go-to excuse for not attending stuff.
She'd never wanted to come along with me when I went in my town to Vic's house even if she'd been invited. As much as I tried to tell her we weren't going to accidentally bump into my parents and just start having a fight, I got why she didn't feel very welcomed in the place. But she also would always say she was scared Vic's parents would be weird about our age gap and stuff, and I'd tried to convince her they were the least likely to be judging someone, but I never was successful.
"Well, let us know then" Monique nodded.
"Of course. I'm gonna go try to find her now" I said, hugging my friends before I left.
you: where are you?
sam<3: Just getting to the car, you?
you: same :) be right there
I luckily kind of remembered where she'd parked when we arrived, so it didn't take too long despite the crowds of people everywhere.
A definitely positive aspect of having so many people around was that no one noticed me basically running towards my girlfriend once I spotted her, and her picking me up as I wrapped my legs around her torso and kissed her, cupping her face in both my hands.
"I am so, so..." she said before kissing me again. "So proud of you"
"Thank you" I smiled, also kissing her again.
"Did you have fun?"
"Yeah, it was great! Even if I spent most time trying to spot you through the crowd of professors"
"Well, that's silly. There were definitely too many people in there for you to find me" she said, gently putting me down.
"I couldn't help it" I giggled. "But it really was a fun experience, I can't believe you get to attend this every year"
"I told you it'd be a great experience. I've been to three of these now, and it's always amazing. And hopefully you'll be attending again in two years"
"Oh, right. I sometimes forget I actually got in the master's program"
"How can you forget how much of a smartass you are?"
"Shut up" I hit her arm with a laugh.
"It's true" she shrugged, kissing my forehead. "Did you cry?"
"Yeah, I got emotional at one point"
"I can tell" she said with a laugh, licking her thumb and seemingly cleaning the skin under my eye.
"My makeup was smudged and my friends didn't tell me?"
"It's alright, you're good now" she chuckled.
"Thanks, I guess. I need to get out of this gown thing now, as much as it's making me feel smart. I'm sweating way too much"
"You look good in purple" she looked down at what I was wearing.
"Thanks, you too. You eyes look even bluer"
"Thank you" she laughed, kissing me again. "We can go home before I drive you to your lunch thing if you wanna get changed"
"Sounds good" I nodded. "What are you doing today?"
"The faculty members wanted to meet for drinks later this afternoon. I don't really want to go but I feel like I should. They still see me as a new member even if it's been more than three years"
"So no lunch plans?"
"Don't think so"
"Vic's parents told me to invite you to lunch" I cautiously said.
"Oh" she just said, getting into the car.
"Oh?" I repeated, getting in the passenger seat.
"I don't know, love"
"You don't know what?"
"If I should come. Maybe they just asked to be polite" she shrugged. "And I don't want to be an intruder, I'm sure you friends want to celebrate with their families"
"Well, since I'm also going to be there and you're my girlfriend of three years, they don't get to tell me who can come or not. And it'd be nice to not be third wheeling for once"
"I still feel like their parents would judge me, for more than a reason"
"How many times do I have to tell you they're the least likely people to judge anyone?" I cupped her face again. "You're gonna have to meet them at some point anyway"
"Not necessarily"
"What if we get married and Vic's parents are invited?"
"Woah" she widened her eyes.
"What?"
"You've never said that. About us getting married" she chuckled.
"Oh, uhm, I was just joking around" I cleared my throat, surprised at how spontaneously I'd said that. "Please come to lunch with me?" I changed the subject.
"Fine" she said with a really long sigh.
"Really?"
"Yeah, you're right. I need to stop with the spiraling. And I know it'll make you happy"
"Thank you" I kissed her. "I promise they'll only have good things to think about you. There's nothing negative about you to think, anyway"
"Coming from a completely unbiased source" she chuckled, starting the car.
"Absolutely" I confidently said. "Now let's go home to get changed before they actually dislike you for making us arrive late"
Stopping by home with Sam made me momentarily wish I could just stay there with her all day to celebrate, because even if I'd become incredibly more sociable during my first years of college and I actually enjoyed staying out most times, something I would have never thought I'd say when I'd just started, I was an introvert at heart, and I probably always was going to be. Not that I minded.
And also, I just really liked our apartment and enjoyed living there more than I'd ever enjoyed the house I'd been in for nineteen years of my life, so I was happy to stay in anytime I could. But I also was excited to celebrate with my friends.
you: be there in ten minutes, sam's coming too :)
vic<3: yesss omg
mei:) : you convinced her!
mei:) : we've just arrived also
Thinking about it, it did feel strange to know I was going to introduce Sam to someone and not the other way around, since I'd never had many people to introduce her to if not my two best friends who'd known her for years by then and a few of my co-workers in the bookshop. But I was more excited that she'd accepted to come along in the first place to think of anything else.
"There you are!" Vic's mom exclaimed as we walked towards the restaurant table I'd spotted them all at.
"Hi everyone" I said, squeezing Sam's hand a little tighter.
"Hi Sam!" Vic said before I could add anything else, causing me to glare at her as I shook my head. She'd always be the one to speak before thinking, no matter what. But it was pretty funny.
"Hi" my girlfriend said with a chuckle. "It's nice to meet you all" she added, shaking hands with both my friend's parents.
"It's a pleasure to finally meet you! I've heard so much about you" Vic's mom said as we sat down.
"Have you?" Sam asked, briefly looking at me with an amused expression.
"Oh, absolutely. Ellie's always talking about you"
"Okay, that's not tru-" I tried to defend myself.
"It kinda is true" Vic cut me off.
"Yeah, definitely" Mei agreed.
"Whatever" I just mumbled, my cheeks feeling like they were burning.
"It's alright, I'll take it as a compliment" Sam laughed. "Did you two have fun at the ceremony?" she luckily changed the topic of the conversation.
"It was incredible! You get to attend every year?" Vic asked.
"In theory, yes. It's the third time I've attended, and I can confirm it's always great" Sam nodded.
"Me and El got emotional at the end" Mei chuckled.
"Yeah, and you two didn't tell me my make-up was all smudged around my eyes" I shook my head.
"Oh. Oops. Sorry" Vic patted my shoulder.
"So, you teach English, right?" Vic's mom asked. Sam knew I'd told her everything about us, or almost everything, but I could tell the question surprised her for a split second.
"Yeah, uhm, English literature. I've been teaching here for about three years and a half now"
"Wow, you must be smart. You're so young and already teaching in such an important university" Vic's dad said.
"I mean, it's a great honor for sure" she said with a smile. I knew she didn't always like to hear people praising her for her accomplishments, but I was always happy to hear other people doing so because I was extremely proud of her.
"Oh, it must be. Your first teaching job being in one of the most important universities in the world is something to be proud of" Mei's mom added.
"I actually taught in London for a year before, but yes, it's all great"
"Right, you can definitely hear you're British from your accent" Monique said.
"Yeah" Sam chuckled. "I fear that no matter how long I'm going to be living here, the accent isn't going anywhere. Although Ellie insists it gets stronger whenever I go back to England"
"I swear it does! I've been there with her four times now and I can confirm" I giggled.
"Speaking of, when are you gonna bring us two with you when you travel to the other side of the world?" Vic asked. "I get jealous every time you send us pics from there while I'm stuck here"
"What do you mean stuck? " Mei jokingly asked, furrowing a brow.
"I'm kidding" Vic laughed, pecking her girlfriend's lips.
"You'd better" she shook her head, wrapping an arm around her.
"I mean, we can definitely organize something together this summer, right?" I asked Sam.
"For sure, that'll be fun" she said, looking somewhat relieved. I could tell she felt like she'd been unnecessarily worrying about going to lunch with us.
The rest of the meal went really well, like I knew it would. Still somewhat feeling all of the emotions from the ceremony and being with the people I loved the most just filled me up with an insane amount of joy. Plus, I was really glad to see my friend's parents so happy to meet Sam and interested in her job and stuff.
"I bet they're talking about literature" Vic said as we walked out of the restaurant, the parents behind us as Vic's mom talked to Mei's parents and her dad looked deep in a conversation with Sam.
"I mean, he teaches English in a high-school, it would make sense" I shrugged.
"True" she said. "My mom kept asking me why you'd never introduced Sam to her, I'm glad you finally did"
"I've been telling her, but I told you she was scared of being judged or something. Which is quite ridiculous, knowing both your parents are the chillest people ever"
"Exactly! Weird of her to care about other people's opinion, isn't it?"
"She can be unpredictable at times. Whenever I think I've finally got her completely figured out, she does something I wasn't expecting. Like being so worried about my friend's parents opinion" I shrugged.
"Well, it all went smoothly so that's good" Mei said, wrapping her arms around Vic's waist.
"Yes, this was fun. I think part of my mind still hasn't realized today was real from how happy I'm feeling"
"Aw, we love you, El" Vic said right before pulling me into a hug.
"I love you too" I giggled as Mei joined.
"Oh, before I forget, you wanna come to my place to get ready for this evening?" she asked.
"This evening?"
"A bunch of people from our classes organized that party in that fancy place with a terrace to celebrate?"
"Shit, I forgot" I sighed. "I guess I'll come. It might be fun, right?"
"Definitely!" Mei said.
"I wasn't gonna accept any other answer anyway, I have some news to share later" Vic added.
"What? You can't just say that and not tell me now" I complained.
"You'll have to wait" she shrugged.
"Why can't you tell me now? You know I'm anything but patient"
"Come on babe, you can tell her now" Mei playfully hit her arm.
"Fine. But I know she's gonna scream"
"What is it???"
"Okay" she sighed. "I might be moving here in September because I got accepted for the master's course in your same university"
"OH MY GOD, REALLY????"
"I fucking told you" she said as they both burst out laughing. "Yes, really"
"That's fucking amazing, oh my god!!" I couldn't help but raise my voice at that point.
"It is, isn't it?"she said, a huge smile on her face. "I can't wait. And I also can't believe it's real. I still need to process everything"
"This is legit the best news I've received in...I don't even know, a long time. I'm so happy, Vic" I immediately hugged her again. "And so so proud of you"
"Thank you" she chuckled.
"Will you two be moving in together then?" I asked, since I knew Mei was also going to stay in New York, as she'd been accepted into a professional writing course.
"Yeah, I'd say so" Mei nodded, kissing her girlfriend's temple. "It really is gonna be great"
"Wow, I thought today couldn't get any better. Guess I was wrong" I said right before I felt a pair of hands on my waist, turning around to see Sam with a pleased face.
"Am I interrupting anything?" she asked.
"Are you referring to my sudden screaming?"
"Yeah, also that"
"Well, Vic is gonna be studying here and she just told me"
"Oh shit, really? Congrats Vic!" Sam said. "That's pretty cool, I'm happy for you"
"Thanks" my best friend smiled. "You're all gonna see me around way more than usual from September"
"And no one's complaining" Mei said, kissing Vic's cheek.
"I still sometimes need to get used to you two being a thing, you know" Sam said with a chuckle.
"Yeah, it's slightly insane" Mei agreed. "But I'm happy it happened"
"Same" Vic said, turning around to kiss her girlfriend.
As much as I'd been spending most of my time with either or both of them in the past years, I sometimes also had sudden moments of realization about the two actually being together. But I was really happy for them, they both gave me more than I could have asked for and helped me in countless ways, so I was sure they could be nothing but good for each other.
"We'll leave you to your own stuff now, I need to rest" I said after a few seconds of awkward silence as the kiss just went on. "See you later then?"
"Yes, absolutely" Vic cleared her throat.
"Bye" I laughed.
"Bye girls" Sam said as we went to properly say bye to my friends' parents.
"I told you it was gonna go well" I said once we were alone, heading to the car.
"Should have believed you" she shrugged. "They were all so nice"
"I know. I mean, I don't know Mei's parents but they've always been extremely kind to me. While Vic's parents have really done more for me than my actual parents. I appreciate them a lot"
"I'm glad you had them in your life"
"Yeah, me too" I nodded. "I really do need to rest before I go out again. Today has been exhausting and it's not over yet. And, as much as I love them both Vic and Mei can be a lot together"
"Understandable" she chuckled. "Let's get going then, I need to rest too"
The good thing about having to go out in the period when the spring weather was gradually getting warmer was that you didn't need to dedicate so much time to picking out what to wear and getting dressed, because you didn't need an insane amount of layers. Especially for someone who tended to always be cold like me.
Over the past year I'd finally started to get rid of the clothes I'd bought in high school or right before I moved to New York, I realized I didn't genuinely like most of them but they just made me feel safe from people's judgment. As much as getting to know myself better had been a long and still ongoing process, feeling like myself with what I was wearing was one of the things that helped the most. I couldn't say I'd totally reached a point where I was confident enough to say I completely liked my appearance, but I was getting there for sure.
And of course, surrounding myself with people who made me feel like they'd appreciate and support me no matter what helped an incredible amount too.
I'd gotten to spend time and have fun with a few other people from college, mostly thanks to Mei and her sociableness, and I was really happy with everyone I'd gotten to know. All of those people being at the party we were going to was enough for me to be happy to go, honestly.
The place turned out to be some rooftop bar not far from campus, a huge terrace with tables and colorful lights right next to the indoor area we were in.
"Why did we get tables here instead of outside? It looks much nicer there" I asked the group of people next to me.
"I don't know, someone said there's a table with lots of the English department professors outside, so maybe that's the reason" a guy just shrugged.
"There is??" I said, suddenly realizing something. Was I in the same place Sam said she was going to with her colleagues?
"What?" Mei said from behind me.
"They're saying professors from the English department are out there" I turned around. "I'm pretty sure Sam's there" I added at a lower volume.
"Oh shit! You should go and say hi"
"I don't think that's a good idea. Plus, I don't even know if it's actually true"
"We should go check" she said, dragging me next to the huge sliding door before I could complain. "Wait, maybe text her first actually"
"Oh, right" I said, getting my phone from my jeans' pocket.
you: babe i think we're in the same place right now
sam<3: Wait really?
Both me and Mei cautiously peaked our heads out of the door and saw there was actually a table full of professor-looking people.
"Oh, yes, there she is!" I said as soon as I spotted my girlfriend.
you: yeah, i can see you. turn around
Sam actually turned around a few seconds later, and I could tell she was trying her best not to laugh as both me and my friend waved at her.
sam<3: Oh my god
sam<3: This is funny
sam<3: I just want to be with you instead of with these boring people now
you: same
you: i mean, not everyone here is boring. but you're better
sam<3: Yeah, some people here are okay. But I agree, you're better than anyone
"Uh, I'll go back to Vic and the others now. I don't blame you if you wanna stay here creepingly looking outside" Mei said.
"Oh, yeah, uhm" I mumbled, realizing I probably looked weird to other people. And someone next to Sam had just started talking to her. "I'll come with you, she looks busy anyway"
As much as I was having fun and enjoying the celebrations, I couldn't help but not think about Sam being just a few feet away from me and not being able to be with her. Especially because someone had decided to leave the door open because of the heat, so I could actually see her. And while I thought that drinking would make it better, it only made it worse.
"Hey! Ellie, right?" a voice snapped me out of my words. I looked up and saw a blonde girl with a smile on her face. "How's it going?"
"Hi", uh, yeah" I said, internally panicking at recognizing the face but not being able to place where I'd seen her.
"Do you not remember me?" she asked with a laugh. "We've met at a few parties. You're Mei's friend, right?" she added before I could make a fool of myself.
"Right, yeah, I remember. Sorry" I awkwardly laughed. I suddenly remembered she was a friend of Mei's friends. And I also remembered that we'd had a few conversations. And that I'd seemed to have to tell her I had a girlfriend more than once as she'd asked me to dance on more than once occasion. And that I definitely couldn't remember her name.
"Don't worry" she rested her arm on my shoulder for a second "How's it going? You enjoyed the ceremony earlier?"
"Yeah, it was incredible! What was your major?" I asked, trying to seem kind because she'd really never done me any harm after all.
"Computer science! You?"
"Oh, wow. That's impressive. Mine is English literature"
"Intellectual, I like it" she nodded, getting a little too close to me for my liking. I luckily felt my phone vibrating in my pocket a few seconds later, causing me to back off more than I already had.
sam<3: I'm so bored
sam<3: Do you want to meet in the bathroom?
"I, uh, sorry. My girlfriend...is calling me. I need to answer" I just mumbled as I looked outside and saw that Sam was walking towards the door.
you: sure
I walked away as Sam was ahead of me, going into the bathroom's direction, and I followed her. To our luck, the whole room was empty.
"Finally" she said, wrapping her arms around my waist.
"Anyone could walk in right now" I giggled as she pulled me in for a kiss.
"I doubt it. I'm just happy that you happened to also be here. I get on with most of those people but they just kept taking about work"
"It's what you all have in common, after all"
"Yeah, but still. I don't wanna talk about work all the time" she said, kissing me again.
"Sam.." I monetarily parted my lips from hers. "We can't be seen here like this"
"Yeah, I know" she sighed. "Good thing there's stalls in here" she said, dragging me into one of them before I could even think.
"Better" I said, grateful that the place was somewhat clean.
"Who was that girl who was bothering you?"
"We've talked a few times during other parties...she wasn't bothering me, don't worry"
"You looked bothered"
"She's just a little too friendly for my liking"
"Right..." she said, looking at me as if she was trying to decipher my expression.
"Seriously, don't worry" I shook my head with a laugh.
"I'm not worried my love" she shrugged before reconnecting our lips again, pushing me with my back against one of the walls.
I kissed her back, and it turned heated within seconds, as I parted my lips to grant her tongue access. I cupped her face in my hands while her hands started to run down my back, and I was really hoping no one had walked in in the meantime.
After a while of rather intense making out, Sam's mouth moved to my neck and then to my collarbone, already making it hard for me not to loudly gasp. She then unbuttoned the top buttons of my shirt, exposing my breasts as she placed kisses all over that area.
"My evening is suddenly ten times better" she mumbled, going on with the kisses as she gripped my waist a little tighter.
"Same" I breathed out, feeling one of her hands move to unbutton my jeans.
(mature content warning)
"Can I?" she asked, moving back to my face's level.
"Absolutely" I smiled, moments before I felt her hand slide into my panties and her fingers came into contact with my clit. "Oh, fuck" I groaned, trying my best to contain myself just in case someone had walked in and we hadn't noticed. No matter how many years we'd been together, I probably would never not find it hard to contain myself around her. I really couldn't help being so incredibly attracted to her.
I buried my head between her neck and her shoulder to muffle my moans as she started too rub circles on my most sensitive area, which only got worse when she moved the fingers to my entrance and curled them inside of me, hitting the perfect spot as the palm of her hand kept on applying pressure to my clit.
My back arched against the stall's wall as I wrapped my arms around my girlfriend's waist to try and support my body, as my legs started to feel too shaky to do that.
"I knew you were fantasizing about this from the moment you saw me here" she whispered, fastening the pace of her fingers.
"Could...could say the same for you" I said between whimpers.
"I'm not denying anything" she chuckled, as I felt my walls clenching around her fingers.
"I'm...I'm gonna..." I attempted to say, but didn't even get to finish my sentence before I climaxed, Sam attempting to kiss me so I wouldn't make too much noise. "Shit..." I whimpered against her lips as she rode the orgasm out.
Sam smiled and pecked the tip of my nose as I tried to regain my breath. "You good?" she asked, giving me one last kiss on my chest's area before buttoning my shirt up for me.
"I'm great" I nodded, and I couldn't resist the urge to kiss her again. "We should get back before people start worrying about us..." I forced myself to say as we got dangerously close to having another round.
"Right" she cleared her throat. "I wish we didn't hav-" she started to say before the main door loudly opened.
"El? Are you okay?" I clearly recognized Vic's voice.
"I...I, yeah, I'm fine" I struggled to say as both me and Sam were about to burst out laughing.
"Mei said she saw you coming in here like twenty minutes ago, I got worried"
"Oh...uhm, yeah. All good" I tried to seem convincing.
"Are you sure?"
"I'm pretty sure she's good" Sam said in my place, causing me to hit her arm.
"Oh my god, really??? I was worried while you were- Nevermind. Okay, I'll leave you. I hate you sometimes" she groaned, quite clearly joking.
"Hang on, we were about to leave anyway" I said as I unlocked the door. "Sorry if I had you worried"
"Hi Vic" Sam just said, going to wash her hands as if something embarrassing hadn't just happened.
"Hi" Vic laughed. "It's alright, El"
"Should I leave before you?" my girlfriend asked.
"Oh, uhm, probably. Yeah" I sighed. "See you later" I said, giving her one last kiss.
"Yeah" she smiled. "Let me know if you need a drive back home"
"Will do" I nodded. "Love you"
"Love you too" she said before walking out of the room.
"You two really can't spend more than a few hours apart, can you?" Vic asked, shaking her head.
"I mean...What can I say?" I shrugged, my cheeks feeling warm because she was right.
"I don't blame you. That's probably gonna be me when I move in with Mei"
"I still can't believe you're actually moving here" I said as we headed out.
"I know, it's surreal. But I can't fucking wait"
"Same" I laughed, seeing Mei come towards us once we were back where everyone else was.
"What happened El? Are you okay?" she asked.
"Did you not just see Sam walk by? She was in a stall with her" Vic intervened.
"Uh, no? You had us worried when you were really just busy getting fuc-"
"I'm sorry, okay?" I cut her off.
"Nevermind, good for you I guess" she said. "Are you two even able to spend a few hours away from each other?"
"That's what I just told her!" Vic exclaimed.
"Really?" Mei laughed. "I'm not making fun of you El, but you really seem like a married couple sometimes"
"Oh god, I wouldn't go that far" I said, trying to not seem shocked at the fact that that was the second time marriage had come up that day.
"Well, hasn't it been more than three years now? No one would be surprised" she just shrugged, grabbing Vic's hand.
"Who would be the first to propose?" Vic went on.
"Definitely Sam"
"Okay, let's not" I sighed.
"Come on, it's just for fun! You must have thought of it other times" Vic laughed.
"Whatever. Let's just think of celebrating now" I brushed their comments off, walking towards the spot where most people were concentrated.