User: jenish (posted by fizzyblogic) Date: 2007-11-11 14:10 Subject: Or, What You Will [7/7] Security: Public

Or, What You Will
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It was two weeks before the wedding and Nick woke up with the weight of Tyson’s leg and arm flung across him.

He woke slowly, the feeling of not being alone in the bed settling in piece by piece. He looked over and saw Tyson lying face down on the pillow, drooling slightly. That still looked cute on him, Nick mused, glancing at the clock and reluctantly sitting up. Tyson’s eyes opened a little and he tried to smile, his muscles still too sleep-relaxed to quite make it. “Hey,” he mumbled, wiping his mouth on his wrist and blinking slowly.

Nick leaned down and kissed him, morning breath be damned. “Hey. What time did you get in last night?”

“Late. Had to wait for my bags at the airport. You getting up?”

“Yeah, I should.” He didn’t move. There was skin on his, and it felt good.

Tyson pulled him down for another kiss and rolled them, Nick on top. “You got time?” he murmured, arching up.

“Shit, I don’t know, maybe. If we’re quick.” Nick began fumbling on the bedside table.

“I haven’t seen you for six fucking weeks,” Tyson murmured, sounding a lot more awake and grinding slowly against Nick. “We’ll be quick.”

Nick nudged his jaw until Tyson turned his head aside and Nick had a clear shot at his neck. He licked up it, kissing and biting his way back down. Tyson groaned and arched up against him again. “Fuck,” Nick exhaled, “I have missed you so much.”

“There’ll be time for all that teasing shit later,” Tyson said, his voice straining. He bent one knee, spread his thighs apart and purred, “Fuck me now.”

Nick groaned and slathered his hands up with lube, the bottle left out on the nightstand. Tyson took it from him and quickly got himself ready while Nick slicked up his cock and lined up. He leaned his forehead against Tyson’s and they both watched as Nick slid slowly inside.

Then Tyson arched his neck back and relaxed his whole body. “Oh yeah,” he breathed, shifting and tilting his hips up as Nick started building a rhythm, “fuck yeah.”

Nick leaned down and whispered, “Good for what ails ya?” Tyson had said that a few weeks ago, that he was getting restless and a little Nick’s-cock-action would be good for what ailed him.

Tyson laughed. “You been waiting all this time to say that?” he asked, voice stuttering over every third word. Nick dipped his head to kiss up Tyson’s neck again.

“Yeah,” he murmured when he got to his earlobe. He took it between his teeth and tugged gently. “Been waiting for lots of things.”

Tyson curved up to meet his body. Nick’s brain almost shorted out. “Me too,” Tyson moaned, and Nick’s orgasm hit with no warning. He shuddered and shook, the hand that had been jerking Tyson’s cock squeezing involuntarily. “Fuck,” Tyson groaned, “fuck,” and he came four seconds later with one last curving arch.

Nick lay on his chest, panting, for a minute. “I really have to get up now,” he said.

Tyson ran fingertips through Nick’s hair. “I know.”

Nick didn’t move. “You should go back to sleep, I bet you could do with it.”

“Probably. I gotta see my agent this afternoon, he said he’d heard back from those screen tests.”

“Well, good.” Nick kissed him on the nose and finally pulled out. “I’d better,” he gestured towards the bedroom door.

“Yeah.” Tyson was starting to sound sleepy again. “Have a good day, okay?”

Nick kissed him one more time, lingering a little, and said, “You too.”

When he got to school, Toad had just parked his car, so they walked in together. “Robyn still sick?” Nick asked.

“Yeah, I really think we should go to a doctor or something, it’s been weeks now.” He looked worried. “She’s sleeping fine, it’s just, it’s worse in the mornings I think.”

“It’s probably just a bug,” Nick reasoned for the hundredth time. “Is she still okay for me to come over after school and clean?”

“Are you kidding? It’ll be the highlight of her week. The apartment’s a mess and her mom gets in tomorrow.”

“Oh man. Two weeks of Mrs Watkins and the wedding planners.” Nick clapped him on the back with one hand and opened the faculty room door with the other.

“Kill me,” Toad sighed. “Kill me now.”

“The descent of the in-laws?” Jeff asked, watching them approach. Toad nodded and dropped into the seat next to him. Nick leaned against the wall and sipped his coffee. “Well do I remember the pain and suffering, my friend.” Jeff patted Toad on the shoulder. “The secret to surviving is this: Robyn won’t marry you if you kill her mother. So don’t. Compared to that, everything else is easy.”

“Thanks. I’ll bear that in mind.” Toad closed his eyes. “I just hope Robyn’s okay for the wedding, you know?”

Nick and Jeff exchanged a look over the top of Toad’s head.

“So Nick,” John broke the silence by bursting in and calling, “did Tyson get back yet?”

Nick felt the tips of his ears get a little hot and hid behind his coffee cup. “Uh yeah, he got in last night.”

“How long’s he going to be home this time?” Toad asked, visibly relieved to move on to another subject.

“A little while, I think.” Nick was about to try and swerve them to another topic of conversation when Principal Linton walked in and the first bell almost simultaneously rang.

Nick still had a key to Robyn’s apartment, but since he’d moved out (after Toad had moved in, and Tyson had got his place in the hills to be closer to the studios and asked Nick if he’d mind sharing it) he always knocked instead of just barging in. Robyn answered the door looking, Nick had to admit, rather radiant.

He stared at her for a second, and then she said, “Hey, you’re here,” and hugged him tightly, and he knew.

“Shall I get started right away, or do you want to eat first?” he asked, carefully, once his jacket was off.

“Um, why don’t –” She stopped. “Can I talk to you?” she asked, finally, her voice smaller.

Nick took her hands and led her to the couch. “How long have you known?”

“I just did a test a couple hours ago. Where’s Kevin?”

“He had some work to finish up, said he wouldn’t be too long.”

She nodded, eyes pinched for a second. “Okay.”

“Hey.” He squeezed her hands until she looked up at him. He couldn’t help beaming. “Congratulations.”

She looked close to tears. “Thanks. You won’t tell anyone, will you? I mean, before I tell Kevin.”

“Of course not. You okay? I mean, this is what you wanted, right? Kids and all?” He watched her carefully; she looked like she would start crying any second. She was still glowing, though.

“Yeah, yeah it is, I just – I guess I’m in shock. I mean … what’s Mom going to say? Right before the wedding, and it’s now I get pregnant?”

“Hey, she’ll just be glad you are getting married,” he grinned. She laughed, a sudden breaking of clouds on her face. Three tears slipped out, but she wiped them away with the back of her hand.

“Sorry,” she sniffed as he handed her a tissue. “It’s just – I’m pregnant, Nick.” She said it like she was only just realising. Then she sat up straighter, grabbed his hands again, and said, “I’m pregnant. Nick, I’m going to be a mom.”

Nick hugged her, forcing himself not to squeeze too tightly. “I’m so happy for you, Rob,” he beamed, almost splitting in two from it. “Toad’s going to be so stoked, he’s worried sick about you. Thinks you’ve got some horrible bug but dude, you’re having a baby.”

“I know. I know.” Robyn was shaking a little, and broken pieces of laughter escaped her as she talked. “There’s so much to do, I mean – we have to turn your room into a nursery, and I should go to the doctor on Monday, and – do you think Kevin could get the day off? I’ll need him there with me, and – and shit, I don’t know what to do right now.”

“Hey,” Nick stood up suddenly, pulling her with him. “You need to go rest, is what you need to do right now. Come on. Bed.” He marched her into the bedroom and turned down the covers. “I’ll come back and clean in the morning, Toad’ll be home any minute. You two should be alone for this.”

The front door opened.

“That’s my cue.” Nick hugged her quickly again. “I’ll send him in here. Is there anything else you need?”

“No, I – Kevin. That’s all.”

“One Kevin, coming right up.” He grinned at her, and went to find Toad. “Your future wife wants you,” he told him, when he found him brewing coffee in the kitchen. “She’s in your room. I’m uh, gonna come back tomorrow to clean.” He clapped him on the shoulder and briefly pulled him in for a quick squeeze of a hug. “Have a good night.”

“O…kay?” Toad watched him leave the room, looking confused.

Nick whistled in the car on his way home, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel. He pulled into the lot, saw that Tyson’s car was there, and let himself in. “Ty? You home?”

The first thing he noticed was the dim lighting. The second thing he noticed were the candles; there were a couple in the hall, and the living room door was open and he could see candles spread out over the shelves, on the windowsill, clustered in the centre of the table. There were take-out boxes and chopsticks out near them, and a bottle of red wine was open, two filled glasses flanking it.

Nick walked in slowly, taking it all in, and realised that soft music was playing. Tyson was standing near the couch, wearing a shirt that made his eyes look a darker blue. It was Nick’s favourite of Tyson’s, and Tyson knew it. “What – what’s going on?” Nick asked, as Tyson took the few steps that closed the gap between their bodies.

“I got your favourite everything,” Tyson smiled at him, voice faintly husky. He slid his hands onto Nick’s hips.

Nick put his arms around Tyson’s neck, one hand going into his hair. “Any special reason?” he asked, feeling like warm light was filling him up, starting with his toes.

“I’ve got something to tell you,” Tyson smiled down at him, kissing first one corner of his mouth and then the other, “and it’s kind of a surprise.”

“Oh?” Tyson’s hands were sliding under his shirt, and Nick shivered deliciously. He’d missed the contact lately.

“I think you’d better sit down,” Tyson murmured, nuzzling along the curve of Nick’s ear with his nose. Nick shivered again.

“Now you’re starting to sound ominous,” he breathed, getting dizzyingly hard as Tyson kissed lightly at the skin just behind his ear.

“It’s a good thing,” Tyson assured him, “but you’d still better sit down for it.”

“Alright.” It was difficult to speak by this point. Tyson’s hands were running over his back, and Tyson’s mouth was doing very, very good things to his neck.

Tyson smiled against his skin and whispered, “This is the part where you sit down.”

“I can’t um, I can’t move,” Nick whispered back.

Tyson moved one hand around from Nick’s back and brushed it lightly against his crotch. Nick hissed, and Tyson groaned. “Shit. Okay, I’ll stop, because I gotta tell you this thing now otherwise I’ll blurt it out half way through the sex.”

He stepped away, and Nick wrestled down the urge to whimper in protest. “Okay,” he said, trying to keep his voice even but hearing it crack. Tyson pulled him down onto the couch and sat facing him, taking his hands. Nick felt a strong sense of déjà vu.

“I saw my agent today,” Tyson started, “and I have a part in a movie that’s shooting this summer. I’ll have to go to England for the location stuff, and that won’t be until right around the time school starts again, so I’ll be away for a few weeks.”

“Oh.” Nick tried not to look crestfallen or feel too disappointed. He should be used to Tyson going away for weeks at a time to make a movie; and besides, he’d just spent over a month in Australia, England was much closer.

“That’s not the surprise, though,” Tyson continued, watching his face. “Now this part you can’t tell, not until they cast Prince John, they’re not announcing it until then.”

“Okay, yeah, I won’t. Prince John, is it – a Robin Hood movie or something?”

“Yeah. I got the Sheriff of Nottingham part, they said they liked the British accent I did in that movie last year. It’s uh,” Tyson seemed like he was trying to burn a hole in Nick’s skull just by staring hard enough at him, “it’s Muppet Robin Hood.”

Nick swallowed. “Muppet,” he repeated, slowly, “Robin Hood?”

Tyson nodded.

“With – as in, The Muppets? As in, Kermit and Fozzie and Miss Piggy?”

Tyson nodded.

Nick’s voice was getting quieter and quieter. “The Electric Mayhem?”

Tyson nodded.

“Dr Teeth?” It came out almost a squeak.

Tyson nodded.

“And you … got … a part in a Muppet movie?” he tried, his entire body absolutely still.

Tyson nodded. “Are you okay?” he asked, putting his hands on Nick’s knees as though it would steady him. “You’ve gone pale.”

“I um, I might pass out,” Nick admitted.

“Breathe,” Tyson informed him. “Both in and out. But not at the same time,” he added. “First in, then out. Repeat as necessary.” He leaned closer and whispered, “Repeating is necessary.”

Nick launched himself suddenly at him. “Don’t do that.” He tried not to yell it, since Tyson’s ear was right there and he didn’t want to deafen him, but it was proving hard to keep the volume down.

“Do what?” Tyson, startled, was bracing himself against the arm of the couch.

“Don’t just, be this amazing fucking boyfriend and get me all my favourite shit and tell me you’re in a Muppet movie and then be all cute. For fuck’s sake, there’s only so much I can take.”

Tyson stared up at him, from where he was pinned to the cushions. Nick didn’t know what to do first, hump him or kiss him to death or grab him or jump up off him so he could yell a little, because he felt like doing all of those things. So he ended up with a vague torso movement and what sounded almost like a yip. “Are … you okay, Nick?” Tyson asked him.

Jump off and yell, Nick decided. He sprang up and over to the other side of the room and shouted, “My boyfriend’s in a fucking Muppet movie!” to the apartment at large. The only reply he got was a slight flicker from some of the candles and Tyson breaking out into a huge grin. Nick ran back over to the couch and grabbed Tyson’s hand. “Forget about the fucking dinner, Ty, you are getting laid.”

“Did I say a word about the dinner?” He held up the hand he was not being dragged towards the bedroom by.

Nick didn’t stop. “I guess not. But you’re still getting laid.”

Tyson laughed, and pulled him closer when they got through the door. He ground against Nick’s ass and murmured into his neck, “Have I ever told you you make no sense sometimes?”

“Yes, now do you want to fuck me or not?” Nick ground back against him, and he felt Tyson’s body curve.

“Fuck,” he breathed, “I should get cast in Muppet movies more often.”

“Tattoo,” Nick reminded him, and Tyson groaned. “I meant – oh never mind.”

Tyson undressed him in record time – really, the words ‘ripped his clothes off’ might not be inaccurate, he could have sworn he heard a tear – and Nick unbuttoned Tyson’s shirt with hands shaking from adrenaline. He kissed down Tyson’s chest until he was kneeling in front of him and taking the zip on his pants down very, very slowly. Tyson watched him, breathing hard, as Nick closed his mouth over the head of Tyson’s cock and gave a sharp suck. Tyson hissed his breath in and tangled his fingers in Nick’s hair as Nick sank his mouth down a little further, inch by inch, flicking his tongue out and getting Tyson’s cock as wet as he could. He pulled off after a minute. Tyson’s eyes were half lidded and his chest was heaving. It was one of Nick’s favourite sights, Tyson from waist-height.

He lay down on his back and Tyson dealt with the lube, and then Tyson was replacing his fingers with his cock and Nick groaned loudly, angling up to meet him.

Tyson slid in slowly and leaned their foreheads and noses together. “I’ve missed you,” he breathed as he pulled almost entirely out again and then pushed back in, harder and faster and deeper this time. Nick moaned.

“I’ve missed you too,” he panted, gripping the pillow under one hand and the sheets under another. Tyson thrust in exactly the way he knew Nick liked it, hard and deep but not too fast, and Nick arched and squirmed while Tyson jerked him off in the same rhythm. He squeezed and pulled and pressed in all the right places and just the right ways, until Nick felt as though pieces of him were crumbling away and falling off. “Fuck, Ty,” he breathed, broken exhalations. “Fuck.”

Tyson kissed him, hungry and sudden and hard. Nick groaned into him and kissed back desperately, shaking. “Fucking hell, Nick,” Tyson mumbled into his mouth. Nick groaned again.

Tyson came half a minute later with a long moan, and stilled. Nick squirmed harder and whimpered, “Fuck, please,” and Tyson gave another shudder.

“Nick,” he groaned softly, planting an open-mouthed kiss onto Nick’s clavicle. He pulled out, ignoring Nick’s small sound of protest, and wriggled down Nick’s body with as much skin contact as possible. He contemplated Nick’s cock for a minute, murmured, “Fuck I love doing this,” and wrapped his mouth and one hand around it.

Nick threw his head back against the pillows. Tyson sucked fucking exquisitely, his free hand trailing by the fingertips over Nick’s skin, and Nick felt heat pooling at the base of his spine. “Ty, fuck,” he cried out as his orgasm hit, sending shockwaves through his body. He gave one last twitch as Tyson released his cock with a wet sound.

Tyson crawled up his body again and settled against his shoulder. He kissed every inch of skin he could reach without moving his neck much, as Nick got his breath back.

“Welcome home,” he said at last, running his fingers through Tyson’s hair. Tyson chuckled and the vibrations went through Nick’s arm.

It was a week before Tyson said they’d finally cast Prince John and he could tell people about the movie. During that week, Nick had congratulated Robyn and Toad along with everybody else, talked a lot to Robyn’s mom when she was driving the happy couple crazy with the wedding plans, and finished up the semester at school. Spring break began that Friday, and by the end of the day everybody was just playing hangman, passing notes and giggling conspiratorially. And that was just the teachers.

“Spring makes us all crazy,” John said, rather sagely, as they were gathered in the faculty room picking their paperwork up and anything else they might have left in there over the course of the semester.

“Either that, or we can’t wait for vacation to start,” Nick pointed out.

“Well, yeah, that too.” John shrugged.

Kim had invited Nick, Tyson, Robyn and Toad over for dinner that night, as a triple celebration of spring break, the wedding and the baby. Nick went home after school to change and pick up Tyson, who was waiting and almost pounced on him when he walked in the door.

“Nick, Nick, they cast Prince John, there was a press release, it should hit the trades tomorrow.”

Nick gripped Tyson’s arms. “Does that mean I can tell people now?”

“Yes, yes it does,” Tyson grinned at him, and Nick jumped a foot off the ground. “Man, if I didn’t want to do this movie anyway I’d totally do it just for your reactions.” He was still grinning. Nick punched him in the arm.

“Shut up, I’m excited. Do you know who’s what yet? I mean, the Muppets?”

Tyson sidled over to the table and picked up a sheaf of papers. “I got the script today. Want to help me learn my lines?”

Nick hoped his eyes weren’t too round, because it felt like they were kind of wide. “Fuck yeah!” he exclaimed, surging forwards. “Can I see?”

“Be my guest.” Tyson handed the script over, and Nick just held it in his hands for a minute. It had Muppet Robin Hood on the front. “Just know that if a single line of that gets out, I get fired.”

“Dude, your secret’s safe with me.” He was just running his hands over and over it.

Tyson slung his arms over Nick’s hips and pulled him close. “I know,” he smiled into his hair. Nick nuzzled him absently. “Are you gonna look, or do you need a minute alone with it?”

“Shut up,” Nick elbowed him, but he cracked the script open reverently. He turned the pages, eyes skating over the words, catching only a few of them. “Dude, Kermit’s Robin – of course, yeah, and – hah, Fozzie’s Friar Tuck!” Nick almost dropped the script when he got to page five. “Maid Piggy,” he gasped between laughs. “Oh man, this is so awesome.”

“The Electric Mayhem are the Merry Men,” Tyson told him. When Nick looked up, he saw Tyson’s eyes shining. “You should see your face, man.” His voice was soft.

“Dude. New Muppet movie. And you’re in it.” Nick closed the script and hugged it to his chest.

“We’d better get going, we’ll be late for Kim’s,” Tyson reminded him, glancing at his watch.

Nick nodded, reluctant to put the script down. Tyson took it out of his hands and laid it on the table. “Yeah, hey and – we should take something. Wine, and some juice for Robyn.”

“Already bought it,” Tyson jerked a thumb in the direction of the kitchen. “Her favourite’s kiwi-strawberry smoothie, right?”

“Have I ever told you,” Nick pulled him in and nudged their noses together, “you’re the best boyfriend ever?”

“You might have brought that up a couple times,” Tyson nodded, a smile spreading. “But I never get tired of hearing it.”

Nick kissed him, a languid smile in motion, and went to grab a nicer shirt to wear.

When they arrived at Kim’s, Brittany answered the door and gestured them inside. “The others just got here, we’re watching Top Model. Come in.”

Nick held up the wine and the smoothie. “I am kitchen-bound, I’ll see you in there.”

Kim was checking on something in the oven when Nick went in search of the wine rack. “Hey Nick, how’s it going?”

“It’s good, and you?” Nick leaned over to kiss her cheek, and she stirred the saucepan on the stove.

“Pretty okay. I am so glad it’s spring break, my classes were insane.” She straightened up and took the smoothie to put in the fridge. “Ty said he’d have news. Is it the good kind?”

“The very good kind,” Nick nodded.

“Well come on then,” Kim led him into the living room, where she perched on the arm of Brittany’s chair, Robyn and Toad on the couch and Tyson on the floor with his back to it. He patted the space next to him, and Nick settled in it. “So boys,” Kim continued, looking at Tyson, “what’s the big news?”

Tyson looked at Nick and grinned. “Go on, you know you want to say it.”

“Can I?” Nick looked at him eagerly. Tyson nodded, so Nick took a deep breath and said, “My boyfriend’s in the new Muppet movie.”

Robyn and Kim stared. Toad and Brittany both laughed. “Hey, that’s awesome, man,” Toad leaned over to clap Tyson on what he could reach of his shoulder.

“Wow, that’s – Ty, you’ve really made it. You’ve really fucking made it,” Kim breathed. She made her way across the room to hug him, and he squeezed her happily.

“Yep, I really have.” She stood up again and went back to Brittany, and Tyson dropped his arm over Nick’s shoulders. “The best part is how very, very laid I am getting,” he added. Nick hit him in the side.

“Ass, that’s between us and our walls.”

Robyn turned to Toad and said, “I am so glad he moved out.” Toad snorted.

“I love you too, Rob,” Nick reached up to pet her knee. She laughed. “How are you doing now, anyway? With your mom and the baby and all?”

“Oh, fine. We’re all managing not to kill each other. Dad gets here on Wednesday, everyone else on Friday, everything’s going pretty smoothly. I feel like ass half the time, but the doctor says I’m healthy and, as far as they can tell, so’s the baby.” She and Toad were both sitting curled around her stomach, as if they had arranged their bodies to draw attention to it. Toad was almost glowing as much as Robyn.

“Have you thought about names yet?” Brittany asked. Kim was slowly but surely sliding into her lap.

Robyn laughed. “I have to get through this wedding first, it’s all I can think about right now.”

“You know, stress isn’t good if you’re pregnant,” Nick pointed out. “Maybe you should just leave it to your mom.”

Robyn rolled her eyes. “That’s what I have to survive.”

Toad stayed over at Nick and Tyson’s place the night before the wedding. They took him out for a few drinks; Tuesday had been the night of all of Toad’s friends going club-to-club, taking in a lap dance or five along the way, so this was just a last-night-of-freedom drink with a select few.

“Besides,” Toad pointed out when John got there and expressed disappointment over the lack of more lap dancers attending the evening, “if I get wasted or handcuffed to something tonight, Rob will kill me.”

“Pregnant women are very hormonal,” Tyson agreed. “You don’t want to cross them.”

“I don’t want to cross Rob when she’s not pregnant, let alone now,” Toad admitted.

Jeff snorted. “We know who wears the pants in that relationship.”

“Hey, hey, I wear the pants, shut the fuck up,” Toad told them. He was the only one not laughing. “I just treat her right and respect her happiness and shit.”

Nick slung an arm over his shoulders. “You are compounding your sissy-man status with every word,” he informed him sagely, handing him the first beer of the night.

“Says the fag,” Toad pointed out. Nick shrugged.

“I may be more of a girl than any of you, but you’re still a sissy-man.” He poked Toad in the shoulder.

“Shut the fuck up,” Toad grumbled, taking a swig from his bottle. “We got some good clubs to go to? No gay bars,” he added, pointing accusingly at Tyson, who arranged his features into an innocent expression, “and no strip joints,” he turned his pointy accusation on John, who wasn’t nearly as good at the innocent expression as Tyson was.

“Thanks,” Nick heard Jeff mutter to Toad on their way out of the bar, “my wife would’ve killed me if I’d been to another strip club and not told her I was going.”

“Wives,” Toad sighed. “Always so uptight about the strippers.”

Saturday dawned beautiful and breezy. Toad took his shower first and Nick made breakfast, leaving it out while he grabbed his own shower. He’d made muffins, two batches so that Toad could give Robyn the honey ones for later, and came back into the kitchen to find both Toad and Tyson munching away at them without so much as a napkin to catch the crumbs.

Nick let it slide, because life was easier without ridicule so early in the morning. “How’re you feeling?” he asked Toad.

“Good. Alright. Maybe a little terrified.”

“Just don’t forget to say I do,” Tyson reminded him.

Toad sat in the back of the car on the way to the church. After a few minutes’ silence, while Nick drove and the car filled with more and more nervous tension, Tyson cleared his throat.

“Can we go over those lines again?” he asked, quiet.

“Okay.” Nick glanced at Toad in the rear view mirror, but he was staring out of the window and probably hadn’t heard them. “These people need to be kept in line. They need discipline. They need to be taxed.”

Tyson’s English accent was pretty good. “We’re certainly taxing them, your Majesty.”

“Excellent, Nottingham.” Nick watched the road.

Tyson paused. “My name is Jim, your Majesty.”

“Excellent, Jim.” Nick thought back, going over the script in his head. “I think there’s only one ‘your Majesty’ in those lines.”

“Shit, you’re right.” Tyson slumped in his seat.

“But the rest of it was good,” Nick added. “Your accent’s getting better, and you switched it faster than before.”

“Yeah? Thanks.”

“We’re here,” Toad said from the back seat. It came out almost a croak, and he spent the next couple of minutes clearing his throat as Nick found somewhere to park.

They got out of the car. “Showtime,” Nick said, patting Toad on the back. “You okay, man?”

“I can do this, right?” Toad looked at him, very slightly pleading. Nick patted him again. “Right,” Toad continued, before Nick could speak. “Yes, yes I can. Right. Is my buttonhole okay? And my tie?”

Nick put his hands on Toad’s shoulders. “You look great. Now go get married.”

Nick watched Toad clench and unclench his hands as they waited in the church. “She’ll show up, won’t she? She has to show up,” he muttered.

“She’ll show, now quit fidgeting. You’re making me dizzy.”

A few seconds later, the organ kicked up and Toad twisted around. “Shit, here she comes,” he muttered, getting to his feet. Nick stood beside him, watching his best friend walk down the aisle. She had never looked so beautiful.

He gave her a smile before he sat down, and turned around to make eye contact with Tyson. He noticed that Tyson’s eyes looked a little like they were glistening, and he made a mental note to tease him later.

By the end of the ceremony, he had no stones to throw on that score whatsoever. He started getting choked up around the to have and to hold part, just about made it through the “I do”s, and got teary when Robyn turned to smile at him after the man and wife bit. He gave her a watery smile back, and she looked like she might burst into tears right then.

He waited until they had all got out of the church before he found her and grabbed her into a hug, swinging her a little. She laughed in his ear and clung to his neck. “How’s it feel to be Mrs Toad?” he asked her, making her giggle.

“You’ll call him Kevin in your speech, right?” She sniffed.

“Damn, I’ll have to rewrite all the amphibian jokes.” He laughed when she punched his arm. “Relax, of course I will.”

The reception was held in a hotel’s function and ballroom, and Nick did his best man duty, walking around and saying hi to everyone. Kim and Brittany had changed out of their bridesmaid dresses and were making sure everybody had drinks, when Robyn’s brother wasn’t trying to get them alone in a corner to talk to them about threesomes. Nick went looking for Tyson, so he could save them, but he hadn’t even found him when he saw the brother in question go past with a thunderous look on his face. From the look on Brittany’s, she had just told him where he could stick his propositions. Nick threw her a thumbs-up and headed out into the crowd to see if he could find Tyson anyway.

After fifteen minutes’ searching – hampered a little by various members of Toad’s family waylaying him to talk about the happy couple and did you hear she’s pregnant they didn’t get married a moment too soon – he concluded that Tyson was not in the room. He checked the gardens, but no luck, so he looked around the ballroom one more time before venturing further.

He eventually found Tyson in a first-floor bathroom, practicing lunges. “You think she loves you? A frog?”

“You won’t get away with this, Nottingham,” Nick said, softly, from the doorway.

Tyson looked up and lunged again. “My name,” he grunted, “is Jim.” He stopped, and sagged against the wall. “I can’t get it right, Nick, I just – I just can’t.”

“Hey.” Nick beckoned him over, and put an arm around him. “You don’t have to yet.”

“I guess,” Tyson exhaled.

“Come on. It’s almost time for the speeches, I gotta go have my big moment.”

“I’ll be down in a minute.” Tyson gave him a tiny smile, and Nick reached up to kiss it.

When he got back, almost everybody was sitting at the tables in the function room. He took his place at the top table, the seat next to him empty. Tyson slid into it moments before Mr Watkins knocked his fork against his glass for silence.

Nick stood up when his speech was announced. He shuffled the cards in his hands and cleared his throat before beginning, “I have known Robyn since I was a kid. We grew up together, we went to college together, we moved out here together. We got jobs at the same school, she even let me live in her apartment when I had nowhere else to go. There is nobody like Robyn. I love her like a sister, like a twin. And I’ve never seen her look so happy as she does today.”

He paused as a murmur went around the room, and Robyn glowed at him. He tried not to tear up.

“A few years ago, a new teacher started at our school, and pretty much immediately Rob told me I had to go be friends with him and find out if he had a girlfriend.” There was a small ripple of laughter, and Nick let it die down before continuing. “I said no way, she should just go over and find out for herself.” A bigger ripple, and Nick waited before carrying on. “Of course, she did, and it turned out he was single, so they started dating. It was Kevin,” he added, “just so we’re clear.”

Another ripple. Other than that, the room was quiet. Nick wasn’t looking around at everyone, though, just at Robyn.

“They’ve had their ups and downs, like everyone else. But we all had to pretty much agree that Kevin and Robyn’s ups were more up than most people’s get to be. Kevin told me he was planning to say he loved her, and he did it the perfect way. When he told me he was going to propose on Christmas morning but he didn’t know if he should do it at lunch or before, I told him to do it in the morning. So he left a ring box wrapped under the tree.” Finally, he looked up. “She called me that day and she was crying so much with joy I couldn’t hear a word she said. But I knew she’d said yes.” He looked back at her, and she was crying now, beaming up at him. “I love her like a sister,” he repeated, “and like any brother, I want only the best for her. And in Kevin, she’s got it.” He looked around the room again and raised his glass. “To Robyn and Kevin. To their happiness.”

The murmur ran the course of the room, and Nick sat down again. Tyson leaned in and whispered, “I’m proud of you, man. That was beautiful.”

“I’ve been waiting since we were twelve to say it,” Nick whispered back.

Robyn caught him in a hug as everybody was getting up from the tables. “I love you,” she whispered.

“Happy wedding day,” he beamed into her hair. “Just don’t ask me to make any more speeches, okay?”

She laughed, the sound of pure joy. “I won’t. Godfathers don’t make speeches.”

He stared at her. “Really? Seriously?”

“Oh come on, like anybody else could be,” she rolled her eyes, curling one hand over his arm. “You’re my best friend.”

He squeezed her hand and led her over to where Toad was waiting. He bowed slightly and said, “May I have this dance?”

“You may.” She dropped Nick’s arm, took Toad’s, and he swept her onto the floor.

Tyson sidled up. “May I have the next one?” he asked. Their eyes followed Robyn and Toad.

“Of course.”

When the dance floor started filling up, Tyson took Nick’s hand and led him out onto it. The music was slow, and Tyson pulled him close.

They swayed, for a minute. The muscles in Tyson’s back tensed as they moved together, Nick’s palms feeling it through cloth. “Hey,” he murmured, “stop thinking about it.”

“Sorry,” Tyson muttered. “It’s just that I –”

Nick kissed him, swallowing the rest of Tyson’s sentence. Tyson relaxed against him, moving to the music and running a hand through Nick’s hair, his other hand resting at the base of Nick’s spine. Nick hummed into his mouth, content. “Forget about it,” he whispered.

“Forget about what?” Tyson curved his mouth up in a smile, and kissed him again.