Page 112 of Septembers

“I got permission from the neighbours!” Avery screamed, her face close, her shoulders shimmying. “Isn’t that great? The neighbours!”

“That’s awesome!” Theo had never seen anyone so excited to have neighbours before. Her joy was infectious. Who cared if his best-friend-maybe-boyfriend didn’t want to act like they were in a relationship? These were Theo’s people, and he was determined to have a riot of a time, dammit.

“Well, well, well.” Jacinda stood in the doorway, her eyes locked on Theo. He hadn’t seen her in years, though they’d casually kept in touch over social media. She looked so fucking cool: her curls had been cut into a short bob that framed her face and she wore a cropped leather jacket over a tight tank-top. Theo wanted to run to her and scoop her up, but guilt held him back. She crossed the room and threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

“I heard,” she whispered, her cheek pressed to his. “I’m glad you finally found your spine.”

He pulled back, and she peered straight into him, perhaps recognizing something familiar there. “Oh, dear. Should I get the ice cream?”

“No, it’s fine.” She continued to stare and he allowed himself to sigh. “He’s just not acting very boyfriend-y.”

“Is it my turn to give you a pep talk about how much he likes you?” Her gentle caress of his cheek turned into a pinch, and then they were both laughing.

Theo had just enough alcohol in his system to say what he’d been too cowardly to admit for years. “I owe you an apology.”

She smirked, crossing her arms. “Here we go.”

“Okay, fine, I know you know what I’m going to say, but can you just let me do it anyway?”

She nodded. “Go on then.”

“I shouldn’t have interfered with your relationship so mu⁠—”

“Sorry.” She put on a show of shaking her head and putting a cupped hand to her ear. “I can’t hear you over the music.”

He tried not to glare. “I should’ve known you’d make this impossible.”

She laughed, but leaned in to listen intently, not letting him off the hook. “You were saying?”

He took a deep breath and projected, not caring who might overhear. “I shouldn’t have interfered so much with your relationship. I was obviously scared of my own feelings and used you as a shield, which was a shitty thing to do.”

She just blinked at him, raising her eyebrows as if to say, and?

“It was unfair, and I know it caused you a lot of unnecessary heartache not to be absolutely cherished the way you deserve.” He was getting louder the more she stared at him. “You’re a goddess of pure delight, and because of me, you wasted time on a relationship that⁠—”

“Okay, stop. I forgive you.” She laughed, covering his mouth with her hand before he could reach a proper scream. “And I didn’t waste time, Theo. Every relationship I’ve ever been in taught me something, and I don’t regret a moment of any of them.”

She rested her arms over his shoulders, and they began to slow-dance to the upbeat music.

“So,” Theo asked, “what did you learn from Dae?”

“To trust my own instincts.” Oof. He deserved the dramatic glare she gave him. But thankfully, it morphed into something softer. “Did Dae ever tell you why we broke up?”

“No.” And even after all these years, he was still dying to know.

She sighed, shaking her head. “Silly, silly boys. Ask him.”

“Or you could just tell me, Jacinda.”

She winked, spinning him away and joining a different conversation, leaving him to sway by himself, feeling lighter than he had a few minutes earlier. Apologizing to people was so freeing! He wanted to figure out who else he’d wronged and hunt them down tonight.

Orrrrrrrr that was the booze talking, and he should just continue to dance.

Jordan showed up past midnight, handed Caleb a fancy bottle of gin, and planted a dramatic kiss on Avery.

“I love you!” Avery yelled in Jordan’s face.

“I love you back!” Jordan yelled, then gave the same kiss to Caleb. She spotted Theo across the room and danced over. “Where’s Dae?”