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The thought made him smile as he swiped his room key and let the door swing open and saw…lights? Had he left the lights on?
And was that music?
For a moment, he thought maybe it was housekeeping, and then he saw the bags. His heart began to beat a little faster, and he wasn’t sure if he should run or if he should follow the sounds. Luckily, the universe decided for him.
The only person Emil wanted to see appeared in the bedroom doorway. Renzo wore a shy smile, like he wasn’t sure if he was going to be welcomed. Emil was afraid for a moment he was hallucinating, but then Renzo let out a nervous laugh, and something broke.
Emil was crossing the room before he was really aware of it, and Renzo was moving to meet him halfway. He was struggling to believe it was real, even after he threw his arms around Renzo’s waist and found the warm lips with his own.
“You’re here,” he murmured in between kisses.
Renzo laughed and tried to pull back, but Emil couldn’t bring himself to let go. “I’m here. Baby…hey. I’m here. Matty’s with me.”
Those three words were the only thing that could stop Emil from going any further. He cleared his throat and gently pulled back, glancing behind Renzo into Matty’s face. The man was all but bouncing on his toes, and it was a far cry from the shocked and betrayed look on Matty’s face the last time Emil had seen him.
“Hey, bud,” Emil said.
“I want a hug, but I don’t want a kiss like that,” Matty said.
Emil burst into laughter, which felt almost like he was crying, and he stepped away from Renzo and opened his arms. Matty hit him at a speed walk, almost knocking him over. He was short but dense and strong as he swept Emil into an embrace.
It felt like family.
It felt like home.
“I was going to yell surprise,” Matty complained when he pulled away. “We were putting up ribbons.”
“Streamers,” Renzo corrected. “I hope you don’t mind.”
Emil cleared the thickness from his throat and shook his head. “I don’t mind.”
Matty grinned and linked their hands together, tugging him into the second bedroom, where, sure enough, metallic gold and matte-black streamers were hanging over the window with what looked like some old Scotch tape.
He had no idea what to say. He couldn’t give a name to the feeling in his chest. It felt like it was going to burst free and consume him.
“I love it,” Emil finally managed.
Matty pumped his fist, and Renzo let out a small sigh, relief on his face. “Victor gave us a key,” Renzo said. “It’s not a bonfire or fireworks, but we’re together. I hope it’s enough.”
Emil’s eyes widened, but then everything made a whole lot more sense. Victor hadn’t been mean about rejecting Emil for the rest of the evening, and Emil had fully expected his friend to want to spend time with his partner, but it had stung.
Now, he realized it was just cruelty to be kind. And the very fact that Renzo was afraid this wasn’t enough almost made him burst into hysterical laughter.
“Kiss me,” Emil murmured instead.
Renzo touched his cheek, then placed a chaste kiss against the corner of his mouth and let it linger there until Emil felt like the world was right side up again. He pulled back, then turned to Matty. “Another hug?”
Matty flung himself at Emil again, and Emil squeezed him tight. “You two are the best. I thought I was going to be alone on New Year’s.”
Matty made a distressed noise, pulling back to look over at Renzo. “Alone? He was going to be alone?”
“I have some friends here,” Emil said quickly, ruffling Matty’s hair. “But they’re spending the night together. I thought I was just going to call Renzo and maybe get to FaceTime with you for a few minutes.”
Matty flung his arms up in the air. “But now we’re here, and we can par-tay!”
Emil’s grin threatened to split his face. “We sure can. What do you say we call down for some room service and get this party started?”
Matty jumped on the bed, ignoring Renzo’s cry for him to stop, and shouted, “Happy New Year!”
