by Max Walker
“Welcome,” I heard Mark say over the laughs.
“So, with all that being said.” I lifted a hand toward the five frames. “Mark, I think it’s safe to say, I’m ready to spend the rest of my life with you. Every single second of it. We have so much time we need to make up for, and I’m not going to waste a second of it ever again.” My lower lip was twitching without me being able to stop it. Mark had his head cocked, his detective brain putting all the pieces together before the big reveal. His eyes opened wide, his jaw dropping, the corners of his mouth curling into a smile that was wide and time-stopping.
That was when the black drapes covering the five frames lifted up on invisible wires, disappearing over the wall and leaving behind a row of huge photos, framed in a beautiful rusted copper. The first photo was a shot of me and Mark, back when we were thirteen and learning how to roller-blade. Over it, I had imposed a shot of the exact moment, a little larger and more opaque, replicated with us as adults. The next photo over was one of us at fourteen sitting shoulder to shoulder and watching an outdoor movie. I remembered the day vividly as a kid because that moment was so quick and searing hot, and one that my mom had managed to capture on her disposable camera before I quickly moved away from Mark. That one I had actually asked Griffin to sneakily take when I took him to go see Legally Blonde at the same park. Over the past months, I had managed to get Mark into the same position, even wearing similar clothing as those old photos without him ever noticing. It was a series of memories of us, with current moments laid over them. And, underneath each frame was a word:
“Mark, Will You Marry Me?”
That was when I pulled a blue velvet box from my pocket and opened it to reveal the band sitting on top a plush white pillow.
The crowd had gone deathly silent, as if we were all waiting for test results that would determine the rest of our lives.
“Yes! Of course, Liam. Come over here.”
Another eruption of cheers and claps and shouts. I went over to Mark, feeling my heart grow big white feathery wings and take off. He was smiling, I was smiling, and I put the ring on his finger, my love growing profoundly deep and rooting itself between us. This was the man of my dreams. In more ways than one, we completed the other. It was meant to be, and I couldn’t be happier.
We kissed then, a roomful of people cheering us on for our love. Tell that to our past selves and you’d be laughed off the block. It would have seemed like a complete fabrication. That would never happen.
Except it did. Things did get better, and I only expected them to keep getting better for us, so long as we were together.
“I love you, Marky Mark.” I kissed him again.
“Love you…” He kissed me. “Lima Beany Liam.”
“Oh no. No way in hell is that catching on.” I shook my head, kissing him. “No.”
“I just came up with it? Good, huh?”
“No, I’ll call off the wedding right now.”
“No please don’t”—Mark batted his lashes—“Lima Beany Liam.”
The End
Thank You
Thank you for reading A TANGLED TRUTH. If you enjoyed Mark and Liam’s story, please consider leaving a review. They help immensely in getting these two guys out to more people!
The next book in the Stonewall Investigations series will be following Zane and Enzo as they enter a new stage in their relationship which tests their limits. All this while Zane works to finally solve who’s The Unicorn once and for all.
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Max Walker
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