Connectivity

by Whitney Cannon

  “Ugh, you are such a tease,” Josh groaned. “Now I have to go back in there half hard and pretend not to be thinking about that look all night.”

  Cory laughed. “Poor baby. I guess I’ll have to make it up to you later, won’t I?” he teased.

  “Would you stop?” Josh exclaimed with a laugh. He discreetly tried to adjust himself, and Cory laughed again. Josh would take whatever torment his loving fiancé bestowed upon him if it brought that wondrous sound from his lips. Pecking Cory once more, he took his Complement’s hand. “Love you,” he said and Cory smiled like he was the one given the gift.

  “Love you, too,” he replied and when they returned to the party, Jim and Diane were waiting to make sure they were okay. After several reassurances, to which they replied how proud they were of how the situation had been handled, Josh and Cory grabbed more pizza and found seats near Travis.

  “Listen, you guys,” Travis said, setting down his soda. “I know everyone is likely to question your quick engagement, but I just wanted to tell you both congratulations. I wondered at first when Josh was looking for a dresser, why he would need something so quick like that, and after hearing about you guys around school, I don’t know, I wondered if was possible to find your forever person so young. It seems like a really uncommon occurrence, like, I’ve never heard of a relationship like yours, between two people so young, you know? Anyway, you guys give me hope that my person is out there somewhere, and I’m really, really happy for you and if I’m being completely honest, I’m totally jealous, too,” he laughed out loud and Josh recognized the sincerity of his comment.

  “Thank you, Travis,” Cory said, as he reached over and patted the larger man on his forearm. “That means a lot to us. I’m not sure if either of us have had a chance to say how much we appreciate your support,” Cory said and threaded his fingers with Josh’s. Looking between Josh and Travis, Cory continued. “Josh told me that you were watching at prom, and you were the one to come get him and help him get to me.” Cory paused and took a shuddered breath. Josh drew him closer and wrapped his arm around his man, trying to lend some comfort. “I can’t tell you what that meant to us, what it will always mean to us. That night was pretty scary for both of us, Josh especially. But because of your help, we were also able to make some positive memories that we will forever carry with us. Did you know we got engaged that night? By the lake?” Cory asked.

  Travis shook his head with a smile on his face. “That was two weeks ago. You guys ain’t playin’ around are ya’?” he teased. “When you know, you know, right?”

  Josh smiled back at the almost dreamy look on Travis’s face. With his large frame and popping dimple, he looked like a huge cuddly teddy bear. “It was totally like Disney princesses,” Josh said and kissed Cory’s shoulder. His man smiled an infectiously large grin at him and leaned in to press a soft kiss to his lips.

  “It totally was,” Cory replied, with hearts in his eyes.

  “Alright, alright,” Travis chimed in. “You don’t need to rub it in,” he laughed good-naturedly. “Now show me that ring so I can pine away for my future someone.”

  Josh gladly held out his hand, eager to finally share their joy with an ally and wondered how Cory would feel about inviting the guy to their wedding.

  ~

  Josh had insisted that his birthday not be a big deal since they’d already done so much celebrating lately. With their engagement, his graduation, and then Cory’s graduation, he realized something he never thought possible: he might actually be tired of cake.

  But as even the best-laid plans sometimes fall apart, he thought this one might too. He sat next to Cory as he drove them out of town and into the hills along the same route they’d taken to prom. Cory hadn’t hidden the fact that he was planning something and readily sought Josh’s opinion on what food he would like for their picnic, the surprise was the location. But as they continued their drive toward the west, Josh’s excitement grew.

  An hour later, when they pulled into a parking stall and Josh took in a huge lungful of briny ocean air, his cheeks stretched wide with a happy smile. “Did my dad tell you how much I loved the ocean?” he asked before they climbed out.

  Cory nodded. “I was trying to come up with something special and something we hadn’t done yet and he told me you probably hadn’t been to the coast since last year. I thought it was the perfect opportunity. Nothing fancy, as per orders, but still a great way to celebrate you finally becoming an adult,” Cory teased.

  Josh smirked. Cory loved to tease him about his age and the fact that he’d been an adult since last year. At least when they were old and gray Josh could get away with calling Cory the old one who was aged to perfection.

  Grabbing the picnic basket and blanket, Cory closed the door and asked Josh to grab the duffle bag he hadn’t even realized was in the back seat on the floor.

  June weather on the coast could always be unpredictable, but the sky was clear and though it wasn’t particularly warm, the rays of the sun felt heavenly on Josh’s skin. Cory laid the blanket out on a rock-free patch of sand and after removing his shoes, moved to lay down on the blanket, staring up at Josh with a hand shielding his eyes from the sun. “Join me?”

  Josh smiled at the thoughtful man before him and nodded. When his shoes were removed and he lay on his back next to Cory, he felt an inner calm warm his bones, much like the rays of the sun seeping into his pores.

  The last few weeks had been so full of activity and a healthy dose of stress, that it felt incredible to just be.

  His father and Monica had finally asked him how he felt about them selling the townhouse and since they planned to move closer to Jim and Diane, Josh hadn’t had a problem with it. He wasn’t attached to the space any longer and since his new home would be with Cory, he was fine letting the townhouse go. But of course, that meant packing it up and cleaning out his old room.

  On top of the preparations for the townhouse, the news of their engagement had gone viral around the pizza parlor, and word had spread that they were looking for a place to live after their wedding. It was actually Tony who approached them with the offer of the small studio apartment above the shop. Apparently the space had been in a bit of disrepair after the last tenant left and Tony hadn’t wanted to put the money, or time into fixing it up if it would just get trashed again. He said if they came down and put some elbow grease into fix the place up, they could rent it as long as they liked.

  So they’d not only been planning their small wedding and packing Josh’s room, but they’d been spending a few hours each day cleaning, painting, and repairing the small space at Tony’s they were going to call their own.

  Josh turned his head to stare at the man he was going to marry in a week, only to find Cory already looking at him.

  “Hey, handsome,” Cory said with a soft smile. “Happy birthday.”

  “Thank you, love. This was such a great idea. It’s been a crazy few weeks, huh? Kind of nice to just lay here for a while and not have to clean something,” he laughed.

  Cory smiled. “I thought it might be a nice break, and of course your birthday gave us the perfect reason the escape the madness. You hungry?”

  “I could eat,” Josh replied, but neither of them moved to sit up. Josh rolled slowly onto his side and stared down at his golden-haired angel. “I love you,” he said softly and placed his hand on Cory’s chest to balance while he leaned down to press a kiss to his lips.

  “I love you, too, Josh,” Cory said with such an air of tranquility, it just rolled off his tongue, like he’d been saying it for years, not weeks.

  Josh smiled, then sat up. Cory followed suit and pulled the basket he’d prepared onto his lap. After handing Josh his sandwich, he pulled out the grapes and strawberries, then the pretzels, and soda. Cory had remembered Josh's love for soft pretzels, but since he couldn’t provide those, he’d asked if regular pretzels were okay. Josh had wondered several times if it were possible to love Cory more than he already did, and t
he answer was yes, he could. When his man tried to include soft pretzels in his birthday celebration, his heart had melted a little bit more at the gesture.

  Cory set his phone to shuffle the playlist he’d made for Josh before prom, and they enjoyed the background sounds of the waves crashing against the shore as they ate. When their sandwiches were through, Cory pulled out his compromise to having cake for Josh’s birthday; birthday cake flavored Oreos. Josh laughed at his sneaky man and after a few lovely birthday kisses, he ate his cake willingly.

  They rested on the blanket after they finished their lunch for long lazy minutes, enjoying the peaceful afternoon sun. Josh traced random patterns on Cory’s chest as he lay on his back and Josh draped his arm over Cory while laying on his stomach.

  “You want to go for a walk by the water?” Cory asked. “There are some pretty cool tide pools just up that way.” Cory indicated to the north.

  “Sure,” Josh said, getting to his feet. “What's in the bag?”

  “Sandals, jackets, and your gift. I didn’t really know what the weather would be like or if you’d want sandals for walking in the sand. But this would actually be a good time for your gift if you wanted to open it now,” Cory said and moved over to the bag.

  “Cory,” Josh protested lightly. “You didn’t have to get me anything. You’ve already given me an engagement ring—”

  “That was a family ring, and I already explained I didn’t spend any money on it,” Cory interrupted. “And there was no way I wasn’t going to get you a present. It’s our first birthday between us, not to mention a pretty huge milestone, Josh. Of course I was getting you a present.” Cory unzipped the bag and rifled through, then brought out a box that was wrapped in balloon wrapping paper. “Happy birthday, babe. I hope you like it and used it often.”

  Josh accepted the rectangular gift and then pulled Cory into him with his free arm. “Thank you, love. You didn’t have to do this, but I am kind of excited now.” He pecked Cory lightly and then released him and set to work tearing off the wrapping paper.

  Inside was a Joby Gorillapod with both DSLR and smartphone mounts.

  Josh looked up at Cory and grinned. “Cory, this is so cool. Now we can take our selfies and videos without trying to balance on the camera bag. Thank you, babe, this was a really thoughtful gift,” he said and set the box down to hug his man. “Can we go up to the hill tonight and take some pictures? Or out to the pond? I haven’t really gotten the best shots of us there. Maybe we can use this to wrap around the bridge railing or something.”

  Releasing Josh, Cory knelt back down at the bag and pulled out Josh’s camera, that had been wrapped in their sweaters. “Ta-da,” Cory said with a flourish as he handed over the camera. “We can go use it right now. I thought you might like some pictures at the tide pools or something. We can do our weekly video there if you want. Maybe a pre-wedding check-in video? We can tell everyone how nervous we are, or how excited you are to be old enough to get married,” Cory suggested. “Or we can tell them how much we love each other, and how nervous we’re not, and blab on and on about every detail of our little ceremony. Could be kind of fun to watch in the future.”

  Josh smiled. “Sounds perfect. I like the blabbing on and on about our wedding part. We’re nothing, if not utterly adorable together. Who wouldn’t want to watch that?” he joked. They had talked about creating a YouTube channel and posting their videos every so often. And since they uploaded their first video, they actually had some subscribers. “Thank you again, Cory. I really love this,” Josh said while he broke the seal on the box to take out his new toy.

  They spent the next several minutes trying things out and taking goofy selfies. When they felt pretty good about using the tripod, they packed away the unnecessary items into the car and made the walk up to the tide pools, hand in hand.

  -XIX-

  “Hey, everyone. It’s Josh.”

  “And Cory.”

  “And it’s the night before our wedding,” they sang in unison. They were laying on their stomachs on their brand new fluffy pillow bed that had been delivered the day before. Since all of the painting and repairs had been completed, they’d started bringing some of their things over to make the space feel more like home. They’d also hit up Repurpose to grab a few things they’d been missing.

  They had come to the agreement that they would spend their last night as bachelors, in Cory’s old room, on their separate twin beds, but in the meantime, they were having fun playing house and recording their last video before their wedding.

  “We’re recording from our new apartment, on our new bed, but unfortunately, we won’t be breaking this baby in until tomorrow,” Josh said.

  Cory waggled his eyebrows at the camera and then turned his face making kissy lips at Josh. “Yeah, we will, baby. Our first night as husbands, this bed is going to see some serious action,” he teased.

  In all honesty, neither of them were nervous for their first time having sex. They’d had weeks of build-up and slow explorations, giving Josh a total and complete trust in Cory, that no matter what they did together, it would be amazing and pressure-free. They’d talked a lot about what they liked and didn’t like, explored each other so thoroughly that they knew what to expect, and even though it would be their first time joining in that most intimate way, their hearts and minds had already been joined far longer.

  “Okay, Cory. Enough with the oversharing,” Josh teased. “We just wanted to do a last video and update you all about how things have come together.” Cory nodded along and kicked his feet back and forth like a delighted child talking about Christmas. “We had our final fitting for our tuxes yesterday and even though we haven’t seen each other, I understand Cory looks amazing,” Josh winked at his fiancé and Cory beamed back at him.

  “I hear the same about you, lover boy. Jersey said I’m probably going to need assistance getting down the aisle,” Cory said and nudged his shoulder into Josh, who chuckled in return.

  “Yeah well, I’ll be the one with drool leaking out of the corner of his mouth, so just look for that guy. Anyway, Diane is taking care of the flowers again and has insisted they’re perfect. Since we didn’t have months to plan this thing, we’re going pretty simple, matching boutonnieres for us, different ones for the rest of the men, corsages for the ladies and a few little centerpiece things for the tables afterward,” Josh said.

  Cory took over. “Josh’s grandpa hooked us up with a non denominational officiant, who he knows has performed ceremonies like ours, and we’ve talked with her a few times over the last week to finalize the ceremony and what we wanted included. We’re going pretty traditional, none of the ‘you may kiss the bride’ and all that, of course, and no ‘honor and obey’. Who even says that anymore? Geez. So old fashion. Josh, you must obey me and go get my slippers. Um, no,” Cory laughed and Josh snickered as well.

  “Yeah, not going to happen,” Josh chimed in. “But otherwise, our reception is just a nice catered meal in Cory’s gorgeous yard, and some of our other friends will be joining us for that.”

  “Oh. Monica, Josh’s dad’s girlfriend, has a friend who will be playing some music and we have a small area set up on the driveway for dancing, and we hung up some fairy lights to make it kind of cute. Let’s see,” Cory tapped his chin. “Anything else, babe?”

  “I guess maybe the cake? Cory’s mom has a few connections in the flower world and those people have connections in the wedding world. Anyway, we were able to find a bakery that could do the cake since it’s pretty small. I think we’re only having what, like thirty people or something?” Josh asked Cory.

  “Maybe. It’s not many. A few of our parents' friends, a few people from school and of course most of the baseball team,” Cory replied. Josh nodded.

  “So, Jersey is standing up for me and when just a few months ago, Cory would have obviously chosen his best friend, Nick, to stand up for him, Nick has since confessed he has feelings for Cory, and he hasn’t taken the news of us being togeth
er and getting married, all that well. So we decided to ask a friend who has been a strong supporter and advocate, and who is becoming a very close confidant, to stand up for Cory. His name is Travis. Have we talked about Travis in any of our videos before?” Josh asked, looking to Cory.

  “Hmm, I can’t remember. Maybe just in passing. But he’s becoming a really great friend and we’re happy to have him up there with us supporting our commitment to each other,” Cory finished.

  “Oh.” Josh slapped the bed. “The rings. Yeah, we went and picked out rings last week. Of course we can’t afford much right now, and our parents are helping out a ton, but we got simple titanium bands that match, and in a few years, when we can afford to spend more on our rings we’ll probably get something nicer. But for now, we want to give a huge shout out to our families for making all this possible. I truly would have been happy taking this guy down to the courthouse or something, but our parents have gone above and beyond to put together our celebration in such a short time, so thanks guys. We love you.”

  “Yeah, thank you so much to everyone who helped us pull tomorrow off. We’re so thrilled to be getting married, and a lot of you may not understand why we’re doing it when we’re so young, thinking we need to go out and play the field and all that. But that’s just not us. When you have a Connection like Josh and I have, you just know. There won’t ever be anyone else who’s more perfect for me than Josh—”

  “Or you for me,” Josh said, looking at his Complement.

  “And yes, we’re young, but you know what? That means we can build a life together. We’ll grow together, learn together, and most importantly, thrive together. We’re each other’s family, and I will be thankful every day for the rest of forever to have Josh by my side,” Cory said, the camera all but forgotten, as he stared at Josh with complete and total devotion in his eyes.