Marry Him

“Speak now,” said the priest. “Or forever hold your peace.”

Winter watched the play intently while Asta sat next to him, trying to remember how long it was supposed to be.

“This is the best part,” whispered Winter, who hadn’t taken his eyes off the stage or the actors once, not for anything.

Asta liked seeing him happy, but he couldn’t stand sitting still long enough to watch the play with him. He could not wait for this to be over so he could grab Winter and go see the Halloween lights around town.

“I object!” An actor shouted onstage. The crowd around them and the wedding guests gasped in unison. “Juliet, I love you!”

He found it weird that Juliet invited the man she loved to her wedding. The play had a couple plot holes, which was where it lost him in the first ten minutes. They hadn’t even brought back the fortune teller with the goose since the first act. He sighed and looked around at the audience, most of them were all invested in the play they paid to see. All except for a little kid a couple rows ahead, who was staring dead at him.

He waved politely and the kid waved back.

“Alexander…”

He made a funny face at the kid and mouthed Juliet’s line, which made him giggle behind their seat.

“Juliet, I’ve always loved you.”

Asta saw this coming from a mile away, but Winter’s little gasp made him smile.

“Alexander, I—”

The little kid dramatically mouthed Juliet’s line back at Asta and he made a show of laughing at it that caused him to bump into Winter and the person sitting next to him. Winter didn’t mind, but the other person did.

“My bad, man,” he said. “I was just bein’ goofy.”

They looked like they were going to say something else, but the actors on stage grabbed their attention.

“Alexander, I love you too! I’ve always loved you!”

The kid mouthed an apology over the seats for getting Asta in trouble.

“It’s okay,” Asta mouthed back.

“Alexander…”

“Juliet…”

This scene was dragging on for too long in Asta’s opinion.

“Hey,” Winter said as he patted Asta’s arm. His hands were always so cold and Asta liked it. “Can you grab more snacks?”

“Yeah.”

“Thank you.”

Asta leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. “The same ones as before, right?”

“Yes, please.”

“Alright.”

He got up and squeezed past the few people between him and the aisle. He caught sight of the little kid as he walked away and waved. The kid waved and turned back around.

The lobby was a little more busy than the theater where the play was going on. People were chatting, some were buying food, and some were parents reminding their children to flush and wash their hands after they used the restroom.

Asta joined the line waiting for concessions and caught bits and pieces of conversations around him.

“And there were two pastas.”

“Just two? What kind of funeral only serves two pastas?”

“Right? I get he’s not really Italian, but come on…”

The theater door opened and someone walked out. Asta turned to see if Winter wanted to wait in line with him, but it was the kid from a couple rows ahead.

“Hi,” he chirped. “Are you leaving?”

“I’m just getting snacks for my boyfriend.”

“Boyfriend?” He asked, staring up at Asta like he invented Cocomelon and iPads.

“Yeah. He’s real nice.”

“My dad says that’s okay, but my grandpa says it’s not, and I have a crush on a boy at school…”

“Yeah?”

“Mhm. He shares his cookies with me at lunch and we always play together on the playground.”

“He sounds real nice too. My boyfriend makes me coffee and the tastiest muffins.”

The kid started to bounce around and kept talking about the crush he had on his friend. “And sometimes he comes over and we play.”

“Really?”

“Yeah! He’s really good at all the board games we have.”

Asta moved up with the line and entertained the kid a bit longer before he reached the counter.

“Two bags of Skittles and like…” he clicked his tongue a few times, “seventeen candy canes.” Winter liked an even number and always gave Asta the last one.

The cashier gave him an odd look. “Is that all?”

“Yeah, two Cokes and,” he looked at the kid, “you want anything?”

“Can I get the gummy bears?”

“And a pack of gummy bears.”

Asta got his wallet out as the cashier told him the total. “Thanks, man.”

He waited off to the side with the kid and leaned against the wall.

“Are you gonna marry your boyfriend?” Asked the kid.

Asta shrugged. “I want to. He’s really pretty and way cool. There’s a lot more, though. I think one day, I will. For now, I think I’m fine just dragging him places and letting him drag me places, even if I don’t want to be there.”

“You love him?”

“Yeah, I sure do.”

“Really, really love him?”

“I really, really, really love him.”

“You should marry him. Does he share?”

Asta laughed. “Yeah, he shares everything with me. He’s got a big heart.”

“Then yeah, you should get married.”

“You really think so?” He looked at the kid, who was playing with a string on his pocket.

“Yeah.”

“Your things,” the cashier said, putting two sodas on the counter with bags of junk food and a mountain of candy canes.

“Thanks, man.”

Asta filled his pockets with candy canes and held the Skittles and drinks. The kid got his gummy bears and headed back into the theater with Asta, holding the door for him.

“Hey,” Asta whispered as the door closed behind them.

“Hm?”

“Maybe you should tell that boy how you feel.”

The kid nodded. “I think so. Maybe I’ll marry him too.”

“Yeah, maybe.”

Asta watched the kid get back to his seat before squeezing back through the rows to join Winter.

He placed each of their sodas in their cup holders and pulled out all the candy canes.

Winter finally looked away from the stage and thanked him. “How much was it?”

“Don’t worry.”

“Are you sure?” He asked as he unwrapped the first candy cane.

“Absolutely.” Asta kissed him on the cheek, which made him smile. “Oh, by the way.”

“Yeah?”

“We’re getting married.”

He could see Winter stop working for a full second before he sputtered out, “What?”

“I ran into this kid who told me that since I really, really, really love you, I should marry you.” He held Winter’s hand. “But we’re not inviting any exes who may or may not still have feelings for you.”

“How about no exes,” Winter said, giving Asta’s hand a squeeze. “Just to be safe.”

“How about we elope? Just the two of us and all the candy canes you want.”

Winter giggled and leaned his head on Asta’s shoulder. “That sounds perfect.”