"Love is in the air."

[inkandleather]

Who: Jace and Jesse Hartley with everyone else, basically
What: Wedding reception!
Where: The Glasshouses, NYC
When: After THIS

The day had been crazy, but in an amazing way. Jace's face was hurting not just from smiling so much, but from getting his cheeks pinched by his family. Then he was probably not going to be far off having bruises on his body just from the amount of hugs he had received, and his lips were stinging from how much he had been kissing Jesse (and there might have been a little, "quickie" encounter when they stole a few moments alone together). There had been a lot of mingling, eating, laughing, gushing over wedding rings. Jace felt like he was on cloud nine and no matter what, just couldn't stop grinning. He and Jesse were actually married.

It was now time for the first dance, and Jace's head was still spinning. This time, it was just Angel singing on his own. After the first dance was announced, Angel stepped up to the microphone and started to sing Love Is In The Air, but only after telling everyone that the grooms wanted everyone to join them, because it wasn't just their Valentine's Day, it was everyone's. Jace was nearly crying again when Jesse came up to him and wrapped his arms around him.

"Oh my god, don't make me trip," he shrieked with a laugh and then planted a kissed on Jesse's lips, smiling into it. "Are you sweeping me off my feet, gorgeous. Oh, wait, you already did that. I love you. We are totally married now, most amazing husband in the whole wide world."

Comments

[nothingelsematters]

Lorenzo shook Liz's hand with a smile. "Oh, hey. It's nice to meet you. So, does that mean you were one of those religious nuts?" So, maybe he should have paused for a moment to considering a brain-to-mouth filter on that comment, but it was popping out before he could stop it. Lewis had told him about his upbringing, and how he had felt from as young as he could remember that he didn't fit and questioned everything. Not openly to his family or friends, but to himself. When he was old enough still to go hunting for answers of his own, he started to realise more and more just how much his upbringing wasn't who or what he was. Which is why he ended up in New York, doing what he wanted and not what his family expected his existence to be. Which is what Lewis said it had only been 'An existence, not living'. "Sorry... that was really rude of me in the first two minutes of knowing you. Forget I even said that."

He grinned and nodded, taking his phone out and showing Liz the picture he snapped of Holly when he was bringing her home from hospital a few days ago. "She's about 9 weeks old now," he explained. "And before I met this amazing guy right here, it was pretty much her and me against the world in our very tiny little family-type bubble. Sounds cosy, but it's been a scary road. Scary and exhausting. I still don't know why Lewis wanted to take us on, hook, line and sinker."

[letyourcolorsburst]

Lewis just snickered and took a sip from his drink. "Don't apologise, babe. She'll probably agree with you. She's been hit with some reality checks recently. A month ago, she probably wouldn't have been seen dead a wedding like this." He gave Lorenzo's waist a little reassuring squeeze. "Renz is another one who can't see to see the rationale behind religion. He cared for his sick partner for a long time, tried to make it all work, just ended up getting hurt at every turn and it culminated in her walking in front of a bus and taking her own life in front of him and their little girl. Not very good support material for God's Will. But he's still beautiful, despite it all..." he added softly, giving Lorenzo a smile.

"She had a couple of nights in hospital after a febrile seizure," he explained to Liz, knowing he could trust her with Lorenzo's private business. "Hey, this is not be taking you on, it's me pretty much falling head-over for you from the get-go and highly respecting everything you are and everything you do. Plus, just happening to be extremely sexy on top of all that does help too."

[losing_my_religion]

"The nuttiest, sweetheart," she assured him with a grin at him followed by a wink to Lewis. "But Lew here and I were the best of friends when we were kids, even if maybe it wasn't exactly how our parents wanted it to go. We used to have the best fun running around acting like wild people when we were kids," she said with a grin and a shake of her head. "God, honey, I'm sorry to hear that something like that happened to you. I think ultimately, that's what really made me think more about what kind of God I must be worshiping if things like that happen in the world. That and because I couldn't wrap my mind around Jesse and Jace's relationship being a sin. If you know Jesse well, you know that he's the king of a good gush when it comes to talking about his sweetheart... I think that's kind of when it hit me that love's just... Love. It's not qualified by the gender. I'm not going to lie, all I could think about once I saw them together wasn't that they were gay... It was that I want what they have."

She took the phone from Lorenzo, and her face immediately lit up at the photo of the gorgeous baby girl all bundled in pink, and she may have given a little squeal of excitement. "She's absolutely gorgeous, darling," she said, shaking her head with a smile. "I'm sorry she's been sick. Is she feeling a bit better now at least?" She paused, thinking it over for just a moment before she gently leaned in to give Lewis a kiss on the cheek, something that had once been second nature when they were together almost every waking moment. "I'm so happy for you both, darling. I've never seen you so happy."

[nothingelsematters]

It was a sigh that came after Lewis gave the nutshell rundown of his life and why he would rather put faith in medical science and the kindness of people than some non-existent dude that only shows up to fuck you over and wants to be worshiped for it. It was why he struggled - badly - at Mara's funeral because it pissed him off that what she did and what she left behind was being justified by faith and God's will. No, he wasn't religious and he was glad Lewis wasn't either. In fact, it was talking to Lewis about his rejection of his family's beliefs and faith that helped him see that there was nothing wrong with being angry at other people for trying to palm of what was, for him, an extremely difficult, terrifying, painful and lonely time. "I just hold her and she's looking up at me, and I'm really glad I'm still here for her, but she's from something so painful that's just left her. I know I don't even make sense when I try to explain it, but let's just say the things I've faced, religion doesn't remotely give me the beginnings of peace. I still need to feed my daughter, make sure she's cared for, and some how figure out what to tell her about her mom when she's old enough to ask."

He looked at Lewis with a smile. "Real love can't be factored to anything so insignificant as gender or what's between your legs. It just can't. The two things in this world that are the most destructive to people is love and hate. So it can't be boiled down to whether you were a bra or not and what some book of fairy tales about God and Jesus says it should be. I mean, look..." He gestured over to Jesse and Jace with his glass. They were cuddled up close together on the dancefloor talking to each other, gazing into each others eyes and smiling. "How can that be wrong, but a hetero guy who bashes his wife for 20 years straight be right? That's what I want right there..." And he was pretty sure he was on the right track to it too.

[letyourcolorsburst]

There weren't words possible enough for Lorenzo to truly explain what he had been through, what it made him feel, how much he struggled to keep his head above water considering all this was less than nine weeks ago when Holly was just 3 weeks old. The nutshell version brushed over the true turmoil of it, but Lewis had witnessed how strained and stressed Lorenzo was. He wanted to help him with it, be his sanctuary from it. "She's pretty damn tiny too. It's impossible not to want to protect her. Lorenzo's also been stepping in to help Lee's business with the outstanding weddings he had booked before the accident. He's running himself ragged and trying to do it all on his own without wanting to burden people. When you meant people who have been through things you just can't fathom going through yourself, you start to see that the true faith in the world is those who do all that and come out the other side amazing people with big hearts."

He gave Lorenzo a soft kiss to his temple, rubbing the side of his torso softly in the half-hug he was holding him in. "It's hard not to start analysing your own life in another light," he admitted, because he had been doing a whole lot of that since Lorenzo was suddenly crossing his path. There had been an immediate attraction there, he couldn't deny that. He didn't forcefully act on it because he respected that Lorenzo was a single dad with a tiny baby he had to focus on. But at the same time, he gently pursued it because he couldn't ignore him and pretend something wasn't there. "And don't let anyone tell you that feelings can progress too quick. Romantic feelings might need more time to be analysed and processed, but respect, affection, a desire to help someone, be there for them when they need it... you can never have those feelings 'too quick'."

[losing_my_religion]

Liz was pretty sure that being raised Christian had made her miss her true calling as a fag hag (were you allowed to say fag hag? Wasn't that offensive? She'd have to ask Lewis, because he wouldn't be offended by her asking), because these gay guys she was meeting -- from Jesse and Jace, to Romeo and Winston, to Lorenzo and reacquainting herself with Lewis -- were definitely all incredible sweethearts, and people that she wanted to have as part of her life. Without a doubt, the things Lorenzo had been through left no room for the benevolent God who poured out abundant blessings. It was an awfully heavy thing to think about without a doubt, but there was no way Liz could look at someone like Lorenzo and tell him it was God's will for him to raise a precious little girl alone after her mom committed suicide, or tell someone like Jace that it was the Lord's will for him to be hit by a car as an innocent child. "Anyone in their right mind would want to keep her safe," Liz agreed. "I know it can't be easy, love, but it seems like your heart and soul are in taking care of that little one. No one can say you're not doing the best you can as a father. And I know Lewis... I can vouch for him having a huge heart and being someone you can rely on." It was true, because she had... Many times over the years, she'd needed someone to lean on, and Lewis had always been a friend who would be there without a doubt.

If she really thought back over her life, she had always known that Lewis didn't quite fit the mold of what everyone they grew up with wanted him to be. He'd played the part the best he could, but then he'd moved on to be who he really was, and she couldn't for a moment blame him for that. "You're right, Lorenzo," she said softly, glancing over at Jace and Jesse. It was as if no one else in the room existed, and despite the soft music, she was convinced that they saw no one and heard nothing except for their own little conversation. "That? That is a beautiful thing." She turned her attention back to the two guys in front of her with a smile. "It would be nice to come across something like that myself, without a doubt. Love is love. And if it's real, then that's what matters."