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Tonight wasn’t about that though. And once again, Wren was nervous the moment he started thinking about it.
“We’re going to be late,” he said and threaded his fingers through Percy’s.
Ellis made a noise to get their attention as they started to walk off, and they both turned. “Dinner,” Ellis said. “Next week. Saturday. Both of you,” he added, his eyes narrow.
“We’ll be there,” Wren answered for them both. He lifted Percy’s hand to his lips and kissed it, and the last of Percy’s tension seemed to drain away.
Wren finally pulled him into the hallway, and they stood there a moment, just looking at each other. The moment was soft, and if he wasn’t careful, it would become eternal. Then Percy broke it by leaning forward, cupping Wren’s cheek, and kissing him.
His toes curled.
Wren cleared his throat. “Let’s go,” he said aloud.
Percy nodded, then kissed him one more time for good measure.
Percy looked only mildly concerned when Wren pulled into the parking lot of the little state park. The sun was mostly set, the road lit up by the last vestiges of dusk, and he squirmed in his seat a little as Wren found a parking spot.
“I’m pretty sure we can’t be here after dark,” Percy said aloud.
Wren laughed. “I called in a favor. We won’t get a ticket or kicked out. I want to show you something.” Half of that something was out there through the trees and into a little clearing. The other half was in his pocket, a heavy weight even if it was something so tiny.
Caleb had caught him looking at it and immediately knew what it was for. He’d just stared at Wren until he cracked.
“I’m not going to propose,” Wren told him. “I never want to get married. I’m not going to be able to give Percy some of the things he deserves because he’s with me, and I’m…I can’t…” His fingers felt weak as he trailed off. “But I can give him this.” It was a big, important thing too, and he hoped Percy understood what it meant to him.
Percy was waiting for him as he hit the fob on his keys to lock up, and then he offered his hand, and Percy laughed, taking it. He kissed Wren’s hand the way Wren had done back at the community center.
“I’m happy,” Percy said. He spoke very softly as they started toward the dark trail, and Wren fired up his phone flashlight so they wouldn’t trip over small boulders and fallen branches. His heart was beating hard, and he focused on the rhythm as Percy went on. “I didn’t even know what actual happiness felt like. My whole life, people fed me all this…this rubbish about how love is hard work. As though if you’re not absolutely bloody miserable at all times, it isn’t real. I don’t know how they live that way.”
“Neither do I,” Wren admitted, but in truth, he didn’t know many of those people. The ones who lived like that were unhappy all the time, not just in love. Like his parents. Like friends he had growing up.
The people he surrounded himself with now had a bliss that Wren was only just starting to understand. And it didn’t scare him because they weren’t things he didn’t feel—or couldn’t. It wasn’t about grand, sweeping romance or falling head over heels or living life like he was trapped in some rom-com.
Bodhi and Caleb worked because they understood each other. They were lovers, and they were best friends. Caleb was Bodhi’s safe space when the world was too much, and Bodhi was Caleb’s…well, he was his everything. He was the soft place he’d landed when his entire world fell out from under him, and he just never bothered to get back up again.
And while Wren knew he didn’t need someone like that in his life, he had Percy, and there was no chance in hell he was going to let him go. Percy wasn’t his best friend—he was something else. Something different. It occupied a similar space, and yes, Wren often needed breaks from being around anyone, and Percy was included in that.
But Percy never looked at Wren like he was asking too much. He never tried to label them or put expectations on Wren that made him feel like he was drowning. In public, when Wren just needed to be himself, Percy would simply smile at him and walk close and laugh at his jokes.
He’d immersed himself in Wren’s language and his family so much that it was now more of a treat when he got to hear Percy speak aloud. And he was still slow at signing, and he still struggled, but somehow, it was also seamless. And there was no resentment, even when the work got hard or when Percy fell behind.
His patience was something Wren would always admire.
He lifted Percy’s hand again and kissed it. “Not too much further.”
“When you’re with Deaf friends, how do you talk in the dark like this?” Percy asked.
Wren laughed. “A lot of flashlights. Or tactile sign like we do with Jori, but that gets tricky when there’s more than two of us.”
Percy patted his hand, the tactile home sign for peh-peh that Wren had taught him. He was learning that too—for Jori, and for anyone else in the future who might need it. Wren’s heart felt very full. They fell into silence as Wren led them down the path, and after only a few moments, he saw the first twinkle.
“What,” Percy said, a little loud before he dropped his voice. “What’s this?”
Wren laughed very softly. “Part one of your surprise.” He tugged Percy’s hand, urging him faster. There was a small arch made of brush and low-hanging tree branches that had been formed over the years of locals—who had guarded the spot with a sort of ferocity that Wren hadn’t seen before. It opened to a small field, and all across the tops of the wild grass were tiny specks of glowing light.
“Fireflies.” Percy whispered the word, but in the silence of the field, Wren could hear it. He pulled Wren closer. “That’s…how?”
Wren wrapped his arms around Percy’s waist and notched his chin on his lover’s shoulder. “The university started a breeding program. This species was endangered—they still are. I don’t fully understand what they’re doing, but I have a friend who works there. He’s a…a…” His fingers twisted through a few letters, but he couldn’t remember the name for it. “Bug scientist.”
