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“I will never let anyone hurt you again if I can help it,” Chad said. “I just want us to always have the ability to forgive and love even those who we perceive as our enemies. I believe deep inside that you and I can be those people, Cole. I know I want to be.”
I looked past Chad and toward the table against the wall at the foot of the bed. A smiling Jack stared back at me from the framed photograph Chad had held the day I met him. The vision of Chad with Jack’s picture in his hand was cemented in my mind. I’d found him odd that day. Today, I found him with an unparalleled soul.
“Can you help me break the ice with him?” I asked, nodding my head toward the bedroom door. “Where do I even start?”
“You’ll start by listening to Alan with an open heart and be vulnerable to forgiveness. I’ve always believed that forgiveness is the real power. Sure, Alan wronged you, but you have been given the rare opportunity to find a resolution. Remember, he came here. Give him a chance.”
I was unprepared for what I had walked into when I arrived home, but I should’ve known that if the situation ever arrived, the man I chose to love would be right by my side. Just the idea that I would consider heeding Chad’s love-filled advice showed the wonderful influence he had over me. A kind of otherworldly influence I believed he held over all who encountered him.
Chad stood and pulled me to my feet, pressing his hand against my heart. I swore I could feel his energy pass directly to me. “Can you come with me?” I asked, my heart dropping to my stomach at the prospect of talking with Alan again after all I had gone through.
“Now and always,” he stated. “You’re going to have a very hard time keeping me from your side, Mr. Hicks.”
I bit my lower lip and appealed to him one more time. “You’re really going to make me do this?”
“Only because I know you can,” he said.
He was magical. Unlike anyone I had ever met. If I could spend several lives with this man, that would never be enough.
Chad walked out of the bedroom while I took another glance at my best friend in the picture. The same friend that I’d made a promise to after finally reading the message he’d left on the back of that picture after Bodie had shattered it. A message I’d never seen before Bodie’s carnage. Another odd occurrence, perhaps? I wasn’t so sure anymore.
Jack had written another one of his beautiful messages there. One of many messages and letters that over the years still held a place in my heart.
C,
Look at us in this image. Time was frozen, and we were caught in an everlasting moment of joy. You and me. So young. So handsome. Forever together. Through thick and thin.
Let’s make a promise to one another to be forever young and forever looking for the humor in life even when we aren’t young any longer. Let’s always look forward, never backward, as we endeavor to truly live our best lives each and every day.
Nothing stops us. No matter what. We will always be reaching for the stars.
J.
Never had that sentiment been truer. Chad peeked into the bedroom as I delayed. “You okay, love?” he whispered.
I smiled at the picture as I reached for Chad’s hand. “Never better.”
Thank you, Jack.
EPILOGUE: Chad
One Year Later
“I’m a little suspicious,” I said, leaning into Cole as we discussed Clint. Clint sat toward the opposite end of the long table, with Marla on one side of him and Alan on the other.
“Suspicious about which one, though?” Cole questioned. “This morning Clint was tucked in a corner with Marla as they engaged in an intimate discussion. Marla’s hands traveling as usual, if you know what I mean.”
“I saw that,” I answered. “And last night, he and Alan were up until the wee hours drinking wine. I’ve never known Clint to drink anything but beer.”
Cole and I held hands under the table as we surveyed the guests at our second annual Christmas dinner. Last year’s had started unusually but turned out to be a massive success by day three. Reluctantly, Cole had faced his demons. Those demons being his painful past and having to face the source of it, who had shown up unannounced two days before Christmas.
With brave, open minds, Alan and Cole were able to offer and accept each other’s apologies. The heart that it had taken for Cole to find a space for Alan in his life again was incredible, in my opinion. I couldn’t have been prouder. There’d been love there before and I think that over the past year, they rediscovered they had a lot in common beyond just having been in a relationship that ended poorly. I, for one, loved Alan’s lively and enthusiastic personality, and I felt Cole was finding new qualities about him worth having him be a part of our lives.
Marla, as it turned out, was also a bit of a clairvoyant. She’d told me privately at last year’s Christmas weekend that she had indeed encouraged Alan to face Cole and to ask for forgiveness. She denied suggesting he ask Cole to take him back, but she knew the best thing for the both of them was an attempt at a reunion. And who better, in her opinion, to facilitate one, than me. She figured that with me by Cole’s side supporting and encouraging him, he’d find the peace he so deserved where Alan was concerned.
Both Alan and Marla were good friends of ours now. Having Cole back in both of their lives made their own reunion as friends possible. She encouraged Alan to study harder, which helped him to pass his bar exam. Alan pushed her into being more open to the idea of true love and constantly tried setting her up with eligible men.
“They both want him,” I whispered, kissing his cheek after.
