Third POV
A sudden bang echoed through the room, followed by the unmistakable shrillness of Gavin’s voice."WAKE UP, YOU OLD LOVEBIRDS!" he screamed, swinging the door wide open and bursting into the room like a firework. "The sun is UP, breakfast is READY, and Miss Maria swore to throw the pancakes away if you don't come down in ten minutes!"Cassiel groaned, dragging a pillow over his head without lifting it. “Gavin,” he said in a gravelly tone that held both warning and weariness. “Get. Out.”“Oh no, scary Cassiel’s awake,” Gavin gasped, clasping his hands together dramatically. “What ever shall I do?”Cassiel didn’t lift his head, just slid one hand slowly out from under the blanket, raising it in Gavin’s general direction. “I will come over there,” he growled, “smash your skull with the nearest bedside lamp, and tell Miss Maria you tripped on your own nonsense.”"Yikes!" Gavin yelped, bolting toward the door. “I’m leaving, I’m leaving! But you better beThird POVA sudden bang echoed through the room, followed by the unmistakable shrillness of Gavin’s voice."WAKE UP, YOU OLD LOVEBIRDS!" he screamed, swinging the door wide open and bursting into the room like a firework. "The sun is UP, breakfast is READY, and Miss Maria swore to throw the pancakes away if you don't come down in ten minutes!"Cassiel groaned, dragging a pillow over his head without lifting it. “Gavin,” he said in a gravelly tone that held both warning and weariness. “Get. Out.”“Oh no, scary Cassiel’s awake,” Gavin gasped, clasping his hands together dramatically. “What ever shall I do?”Cassiel didn’t lift his head, just slid one hand slowly out from under the blanket, raising it in Gavin’s general direction. “I will come over there,” he growled, “smash your skull with the nearest bedside lamp, and tell Miss Maria you tripped on your own nonsense.”"Yikes!" Gavin yelped, bolting toward the door. “I’m leaving, I’m leaving! But you better be
Third POVLaughter spilled into the dining room like sunlight.The long dining table was dressed in its best—cream linen, glowing candles, silverware aligned like soldiers. Miss Maria darted around the kitchen like a possessed chef, barking orders and humming old wedding tunes while Axel tried to sneak bites and Gavin tried to sneak kisses.Lucian had taken it upon himself to open wine for everyone, even those who didn’t ask, and Julian found himself quietly leaning against the archway leading into the room, watching the chaos unfold.Cassiel was still beside him.Every step Julian took, Cassiel shadowed. Not in an overbearing way—but as though grounding himself. As if leaving again wasn’t an option.“I feel like a guest in my own damn house,” Cassiel muttered, eyes scanning the table.Julian chuckled lightly. “You were gone for a year. They had to fill the emotional vacuum somehow.”“They filled it with Gavin.”At that exact moment, Gavin let out
Third POVOne year later…The house had never been this quiet.Julian stood by the large window in the sitting room, hands tucked into the pockets of his soft grey hoodie, eyes wandering over the garden bathed in sunlight. Birds chirped faintly in the distance, the wind gentle, the air calm — too calm.He exhaled slowly. This day had come like every other for the past 364 before it: hollow, predictable, and soft-edged with memories.Cassiel hadn’t come back.He had stopped expecting. Stopped searching. Stopped hoping.But he hadn’t stopped missing.The soft knock on the front door didn’t startle him — Miss Maria was in the kitchen, probably humming over her stew — so he simply turned to watch the door.Another knock.And then it flung open.“HELLO, WE’RE BAAAACK!”Julian’s heart flipped. That voice was unmistakable. Loud. Dramatic. Impossible to ignore.“Gavin?” he called.“Duh! Who else can break silence this beautifully? Get
Third POVChaos was the first sign that wedding preparations were officially underway.It began when Gavin barged into Julian’s room at 6:03 a.m., armed with a giant folder, a clipboard, and a head full of unruly curls frizzed from excitement.“Good morning, husband of doom!”Julian rolled over, groaning. “We’re not even married.”“Not you, idiot. I’m marrying Axel. But you’re my maid of honor-slash-wedding coordinator-slash-personal sanity.”“I don’t remember signing up for that.”“Well, you didn’t say no.”Julian sat up, rubbing his temples. “What do you want?”Gavin tossed the clipboard onto his lap. “Let’s pick colors!”Lucian entered seconds later with a coffee tray. “He’s been up since four. I barely survived it.”Gavin pointed dramatically. “Cream and gold, or navy and emerald?!”Julian blinked. “Can’t you just elope?”Gavin gasped. “Blasphemy!”It didn’t stop there.Miss Maria was dragged into cake tastings. Lucian
Third POVThe sun was already high in the sky when Gavin woke up to the sound of waves crashing outside and someone humming in the kitchen. He rolled over and yawned dramatically, arms flailing until one smacked Axel across the chest.“Morning,” Axel grumbled.“You snore like a dying walrus,” Gavin replied, crawling on top of him.“You drool like a broken faucet.”“And yet, you still love me,” Gavin smirked, planting a sloppy kiss on his cheek before hopping off the bed. “BEACH DAY, BAAAABYYYY!”Axel groaned into his pillow. “Why am I dating a cartoon?”Ten minutes later, Gavin had burst into Julian’s room shirtless, wearing a pineapple-patterned swimsuit and slathering sunscreen on his face like it was lotion.“Get up, sad boy! We’ve got sea, sand, and SPF 50!”Julian blinked from where he sat by the window. “I’m already dressed.”“Oh.” Gavin looked him over. “You’re wearing black to the beach?”“I’m not trying to be roasted like you last
Third POVThe mansion was unusually quiet for a late morning. Miss Maria had just finished cleaning up after the chaotic breakfast Axel and Gavin had left behind—half an omelet stuck to the fridge and flour where flour should never be.Julian sat curled up on the couch in the sunroom, a book open in his lap that he wasn’t reading. His eyes kept flicking to the door, like he was expecting someone. But the person he truly wanted to walk through that door hadn’t been seen in over five months now.Just as the melancholy threatened to settle again, the front doors swung open with a dramatic bang.Lucian entered, wearing sunglasses indoors like some mafia agent out of a movie, holding a sleek tablet and a smirk that could kill.“Get your sulky butts off the couch, people!” he announced. “We’re going on a vacation!”Julian blinked slowly. “Come again?”Lucian dramatically pulled off his glasses. “Concert. Beachfront. One-week getaway. All of you. No excuses.”