“You're doing what?” Davin exclaimed.

“Shh, keep your voice down,” George urged as he glanced around the bookstore.

“Oh, man, that's just...” Davin trailed, seemingly not having the words to finish his train of thought. To be honest, that's how George felt right now, too.

“I know it's insane, but $125,000 is a lot of money to walk away from.”

“It really is,” Davin agreed. “I'd kill for that much. It'd take care of the student debt and then some...”

“So you think I should go for it?” George hedged.

“Well, you already said yes to the man, so...” Davin teased as he nudged him with his elbow. “But in all seriousness, why not? Just make sure you really do get your half of the money by doing whatever paperwork you need to.”

“It still just feels so weird... Getting married should mean something.”

“It does mean something: being $125,000 richer,” Davin pointed out with a smirk.

George made a face at him, but then went back to gently stroking the spine of the book he was holding. Although he knew it was a load of baloney, he did love the thought of getting married to one's true love. It was so important to so many people, and it was honestly kind of important to George, too. Still, since he hadn't dated anyone serious in a while, it wasn't like he was on his way to getting married anytime soon. Now with Nick, he had the chance to at least have that experience, even if it wasn't the real deal.

“Look, if you really don't feel comfortable about it, then don't do it,” Davin spoke up a minute or two later.

“Everything's just happening at once...”

“Life does that sometimes.”

“Yeah, so maybe I should just go along for the ride.”

“It'd make for a fun story to tell sometime,” Davin teased with a goofy grin.

George's heart fluttered as he gripped the book tighter in his hands. Then he puffed out his chest and rolled back his shoulders, taking a bolder stance. “You're right. I'm tired of playing it safe. I want adventures, too.”

“Way to go!” Davin cheered.

“By the way, we're going to be married next weekend, so you better show up,” George stated.

“I'll clear my schedule,” Davin chuckled.

* * *

When George got home that evening, Nick wasn't there. He didn't think much of it. Nick had his own life. He was just glad he’d been given a spare key on the way out that morning.

He moved back to his temporary room and decided to continue tidying up a bit more. There were still a few more of Nick's things that he wanted to safely store. While he wasn't going to be there too long, at least until the repairs to his apartment was done, he still wanted to be comfortable. Clutter in particular stressed him out, so that had to be dealt with.

But when he picked up one of the cardboard boxes in the corner to move into the closet, the bottom—only folded and not taped—gave out. “Oh, crap!” George cursed as the items crashed to the floor. He quickly set the box aside and knelt down, his heart in his throat as he checked to see if he broke anything.

From what he could see, the only thing that had been in the box were papers and pictures. George stopped as he picked up one picture that showed Nick and another man, Clifton, beaming in front of a sunset. His curiosity got the best of him as he sorted through a few more pictures, seeing the two of them in various places, intimately embraced and smiling. Were these engagement shoots?

Nick looked so happy in the pictures...

The distant rattling of keys in the front door snapped George out of his thoughts as he hurriedly grabbed the box, made it whole again, and stuffed the papers and photos into it. Then he shoved it into the closet before grabbing the second one.

“Hey, I'm back!” Nick called.

“I'm in the room!” George called back as he tried to still his racing heart while he put away the second box. Once that was done, he slipped out of his room to join Nick in the living room. “Did you have a good day?”

Nick smiled at the greeting as he nodded. “Good enough, yeah.”

“Good, because we need to seriously start planning this wedding,” George declared as he grabbed Nick by the hand and hauled him over to the table where his laptop was set up.

If George was really going to go through with this wedding, then he was in it to win it. He caught Nick's hesitation at first, that guarded look back in his eyes, although he traded it for a sharp nod of his head.

“Let's do it.”