Page 182 of Saving Sparrow
“You look beautiful, Ellie.”
He blushed, looping his arms through ours. We walked him down our makeshift aisle of flower petals and candles, with classical music playing in the background. We formed a tight circle in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows, joining hands. Tears welled in Elliott’s eyes.
“I can’t believe I get to marry you two,” he said. “Dammit, my makeup.” He blinked them away as Quentin and I kissed him on the cheek.
I took a deep breath, getting things started. “You were my everything from the day we met,” I said to Quentin. “Brother, friend, and eventually lover. Ialwaysfelt safe with you, even when life got tough. You were possessive, jealous, territorial—”
“All the things you loved.” Quentin winked.
“All the things you still are,” Elliott added.
Quentin shrugged. “I don’t like to share my things.”
“You’ve gotten better,” I said. “You’ve grown.”
Quentin nodded, his smile shaky. “I try. For both of you, I try.”
“You do more than try, you succeed.” I looked into Elliott’s eyes next. “You were shy, timid, and in need of love and affection. You made us feel important, needed… And you played football with Quentin, taking the heat off me.” We all laughed, Elliott no longer caring about his makeup as his first tear fell.
“You’re the sweetest, most gentle person I know, Ellie. I promise to always be loyal, reliable, and present for both of you through good times and bad. I don’t need a legal document to know we belong to each other.” I shook my head. “The vows we’re making now will bind our hearts and will be long-lasting.We’rein charge of making them real—ofkeepingthem real, because we’ve already been living by them. I promise to love you both forever, to fight for our love every day, and to never give up on it.Never.”
“Fuck.” Quentin sniffed. “How the heck are we supposed to compete with the English graduate?”
I shrugged, grinning. “Go with your gut.”
Elliott went next, dabbing at the corners of his eyes. “You two scared me when we first met. You were so close… I didn’t understand it, couldn’t recognize what it was because I’d never known love.” His voice broke. “Your love was gentle,” he said to me, then glanced at the ocean. “Soft waves of reassurance and understanding. You were easy to gravitate toward.” He gave Quentin a wry grin. “You were a storm. A heavy wind blasting against me until I let you in. You love just as aggressively as you protect. I feel safe with you, Q. Nothing can hurt me as long as I have you.”
“Damn straight, pretty girl.”
“We’ll never catch our flight if we can’t stop laughing and crying.” I wiped away Quentin’s tears, then mine.
“We’ve got plenty of time,” Elliott said.
“This isn’t real until we consummate it.” Quentin wiggled his brows. “That’s gonna take some time.”
Elliott flushed but pushed on. “I promise to choose you both, every day, in the quiet and in the chaos. To be your home, your partner, your safe place. I promise to continue loving you, not just when it’s easy,” he finished. We looked at Quentin.
“You two were always much better at this,” he whispered. We’d agreed not to write our vows, to speak from the heart. “Fuck, this is hard.”
“That’s because you’re trying to make it pretty,” I said. “Give us the Q special. The unfilteredversion.”
Quentin smiled, squeezing our hands. “You asked for it.”
“We’ve been warned,” Elliott said.
Quentin cleared his throat, starting with Elliott. “I felt threatened by you when we first met because I knew Guelly was more your type. I mean, not inthatway, but just as a person, you know? You were so… delicate. You spoke in almost a whisper—when you spoke at all. I’d always been rough around the edges. A battering ram. I could tell it scared you. But more than feeling jealous, I wanted to protect you. I’m nothing if I can’t protect both of you.” His voice went hoarse. “Nothing.I’m literally no one if I can’t keep you two safe.”
“You’reeverything,” I told him.
Quentin gave me a placating nod. “That first day when you fell asleep in our room, and we ended up sleeping beside you… I felt something new in my heart. I felt you.”
Elliott’s eyes filled with tears again. “And you say you’re not good at this.”
Quentin chuckled. “And then you played football with me.”
“You made me fall in love with the game.” Elliott was still his number one fan.
“And you…” Quentin addressed me now. “I loved you hard. I still love you hard. You were my sun, moon, and stars from the beginning.” He’d made a habit of calling me all three over the years. “You accepted me for who I was, never tried to change or tame me—much. You saved me from myself all the time, talked me down from my childish tantrums, and helped me grow into a man.” He kissed the backs of our hands.
