“No! You won’t!” Des rolled his eyes as he cleaned the bar counter getting his brewery restaurant ready for that day’s opening. “But I really love him! I couldn’t let go of him at the airport! Now I am feeling lonely and depressed!” Alex whined.

“Don’t you have to work?” Des said exasperated with Alex going on and on about Noah.

“I had a morning shift, I dropped him, because he insisted that he wanted to do it alone and went for my shift and now I am not moving from here till I get good advice from the wise man behind the bar counter!” Alex folded his arms in front of his chest and pouted.

“Look Kid! I am not okay with you saying anything about love till I interview this cowboy! Yes! His creepy ‘I see dead people thing’ doesn’t seem like a fraud, because I spoke with Enzo’s cousin and everything is true. In fact he was taken aback when I told him what we know! So we need to understand how a dumb jock chef like you will deal with that? He is an orphan and has lost an opportunity to build a home and make a family once, and at an awfully young age. We can’t subject him to you, till we are sure, you wouldn’t screw it!” Des started cleaning the glasses after he was done with his monologue.

“I am good for him and I will take care of my cutie! I will make a superb boyfriend and an even better husband! And a father! For our children, I mean! You should give me more credit! I have spoken to Cathy and arranged a couple of interviews for Pastry chefs in Austin.” Alex said proudly and smiled like a kid on Christmas morning.

“Lexi! I have practically raised you since we were neighbours and you are like my first born even before I married your sister! So I know how much credit you deserve! Let me meet Noah and we will take it from there!” Des turned around and started adjusting his brew bottles. “Invite him for Ori’s wedding! Let’s see if he says yes to come as a boyfriend to a family wedding? And if he can survive your and my families, then I will speak with him about his mental health to be your boyfriend!” Des said all this with a tough voice, but Alex saw his smiling reflection in the display mirrors.

He jumped over the counter and hugged Des from behind, kissing his cheeks saying “Love you! Love you! Love you! Bro!” Des laughed and hit Alex with the towel and shooed him away, “Now get the fuck out of my bar and make yourself useful in the kitchen!”

****

“Everyone is saying they love Noah, but I can’t?” Alex grimaced at Cathy.

“Look at that polite, well-spoken and educated cutie cowboy! Who wouldn’t love him? When we say it, it’s a comment, if you are saying it, it means commitment! Whatever I know about him now, he is a lifetime sort of guy. So think hard and not when hard!” Cathy smiled and patted Alex’s cheeks with both her palms.

“I am adorable too, you know! And I am a lifetime sort of guy as well!” Alex rested his head on Cathy’s shoulder, “I really love him!” He confessed.

“Good! You know what you want from you two, give it time and go for it.” Cathy and Alex looked at Noah, his posture straight, tone polite as he spoke and smiled with every relative, Des was introducing him to the family as Alex’s boyfriend.

He wasn’t wearing his sunglasses, hence almost everyone were surprised when he told them about his blindness, but he didn’t say it as if it was a disability, he said it in an even tone like he was describing his hair colour, it was nature’s gift to him and he accepted it wholeheartedly.

***

Alex looked at his date from the ten feet distance, as he sang on the podium, filling the room and hearts with country love songs, looking extraordinary in his olive suit and white shirt with white canvas shoes. Kay had dressed him up like a Ken doll. His hair was now falling on his forehead like always but when Alex had gone to pick him from his hotel room, Kay had parted his hair to the side making him look like Alex’s prom date. Alex fell head over heels again, gawking at a nervously smiling Noah.

Kay didn’t attend the wedding but had stayed overnight, taking pictures of the countryside and the many mansions it had. Alex felt nervous because he would be staying with Noah for the weekend. He wanted to make Noah happy and wanted him to think Alex was a lifetime person.

***

“You got to try the fish!” Alex was feeding small morsels to Noah, he had catered for the wedding and was shamelessly showing off to his date.

“You made all this?” Noah took a bite and moaned, making Alex proud of his profession.

“No Cutie! I have a small team and get hired help but all this is my recipe!” He fed him his traditional recipe of Spaghetti and Bolognese.

“Hmm! The Italians would have been thrilled with this!” Noah smiled fully.

“That’s racist you know!” Des joked as he looked at the cutest couple in the wedding, sitting in the corner and eating after everyone else.

Noah stood with a jerk, Des had to grab the chair from falling over. “Sorry Sir! That’s not what I meant! It was just a joke and the food is so good, so I was just complimenting X and I really didn’t mean to be offensive!” Noah got flushed and bothered, speaking fast and wringing his hands.

Alex got up and stood behind him, looking miffed at Des, touching his chest to Noah’s back.

“Hey! Cariño! I was joking! Don’t worry so much! You don’t have to try to make a good impression! We all love you! In fact we have voted to replace Alex with you in the family. He is old now!” Des hugged the small gentleman to him and kissed his forehead, “You don’t have to worry kid! You are the good one!” He patted his head and shook Noah gently by his shoulders.

“Give him to me!” Noah said, taking a step back and feeling the air for Alex, till he could find his huge bicep which he encircled. “When you replace him, give me Alex! I want him!” Noah smiled. Des looked at Alex and winked. “He is all yours but he comes with a manual and no warranty!” Des patted Noah’s cheek and left smiling.

“I love you!” Alex blurted out, still standing next to Noah, his eyes on a departing Des, too nervous to look at Noah. “Good! You should! Or I will have one more thing to talk to my therapist about, my one sided love for a tall, muscular, wonderful chef with a huge schlong!” Noah smiled.

“Noyee! To see the man you love with someone else is a different kind of hurt. I don’t want to experience that again. I want you to be with me if I make you proud, if you are okay to be seen with me! If you…”

Noah touched Alex’s lips with his fingers and then replaced them with his lips, shutting him up.

He parted his lips and kissed Alex slowly, “This is the first wedding I have attended. I don’t mingle in a crowd, I don’t navigate through strange places with moving furniture and I definitely don’t kiss men in public! X, I am here because of you. I know the hurt! I can’t hurt you even if you hurt me!” Noah said this quietly and hugged Alex.

“I will never let anything happen to us! I promise Baby!” Alex promised and tightened his arms around Noah.

****

Alex had already taken off his and Noah’s jacket and tie in the car, by the time they reached their room, he had opened his shirt. He pushed Noah to the wall and unbuttoned their pants as soon they were in the room. He supported himself against the wall, and raised Noah and brought him down on his hard dick, balancing his bubble butt with his hands, joined together and held underneath him. Noah threw his arms around his neck, putting his thighs alongside Alex’s waist and moved himself by his feet, which were touching the wall against which Alex was leaning.

Alex showed his strength and stamina to Noah and his passion for him. He stood straight, picking up Noah, and moved away from the wall. Noah flexed and stretched his legs and buttocks, tightening his hold on him, teasing him, tensing his buttocks to push Alex a little away from his anus, bending forward and enjoying the depth of penetration he allowed Alex to achieve when he moved down again. He reached with his hands to caress Alex and touched himself. He held Alex’s hands and moved them around on his skin.

Alex felt like a new lover, even though his need for Noah was urgent and animalistic but he was conscious enough for the first time, to avoid pushing him forward, hurting or forcing him. He was letting Noah do what he wanted to, he took the time to slow down and hold him close against his chest and stomach, the pleasure of Noah rubbing his soft hands across his chest and moaning, made him feel incredibly sexy. He held his penis and masturbated Noah. He moved his pelvis a lot more fluently than he could while lying or kneeling because the whole of the leg was engaged in the action. They found ways to kiss and touch each other as Alex fucked Noah, in the standing position, the feeling of enhanced spontaneity thrilling to both. Noah grunted loudly as he felt Alex cum inside him. Alex placed him on the floor and got down on his knees and sucked Noah dry, as Alex’s cum slowly ran down his thighs.

***

“Get ready! We are already late, let’s get over this dinner.” Orazio huffed, waiting for his wife, Kira in the living room of their three bedroom SoHo apartment, surfing through his wedding pictures, smiling at the picture with Des, Cathy and Casey.

“Ori! Who are these people again?” She asked as she walked out like they weren’t getting late at all. But one look at her, dressed in a plain grey knee length dress with thin black belt, black wedge heels, sandals and a small black purse, was worth the wait. Her small petite frame, shoulder brown hair highlighted with streaks of lighter shades and bright hazel eyes bordered with black liner, made Orazio fall in love with Kira, all over again.

“Hmmm! I really got married up! Huh?” Orazio smiled at Kira, he got up from the couch and held her around her waist with one hand and with the other raised her face to him.

“We can cancel!” he offered and smiled, kissing her lips lightly, careful with her makeup. “She my aunt, from my mother’s side and lives outside the city, with her sons and family, like a typical Italian famiglia.”

“Nah! Let’s do this! I wanted to wear this forever! We shouId invite Alex. I really loved Noah… Noah is better for Alex… Alex looked…uh… what’s the word?” Kira smiled and hugged Ori closer, his tall, muscular frame.

“Alex looked content! Happy and content, like me. You know, I come from a rich Italian family and most of my relatives live in big houses unlike Des.” Ori upsold his family.

“Ya! Why do you think I married a slob like you? It’s the money from your famiglia.” Kira gave a soft chuckle.

“I can still call and cancel.” Ori moved closer to Kira, pushing their pelvis together.

“Let’s leave now, Baby! I want to make a good impression and not go there with messed up hair and a creased dress.” Kira placed her palm on Ori’s chest and pushed him gently. “Hope there are meatballs!” She added as she switched off the television and Oro grabbed his jacket and the car keys.

*****

“This is weird right? I didn’t know we had a train crossing and such a rural landscape so close to the city.” Kira wondered as she looked out at the beautiful woods and an old railway crossing, with the lights and level crossing gate.

“Ya! We used to come here all the time, Zietta is really fun and a charming host. We once had a wedding here, I was really young but it was organised by her single handily. You met her at the wedding, she is still as strong and charming.”

“Ya! I like her… she is warm and genuine. Unlike my uptight family, everyone is just… how do I explain them… Hmm…” She struggled for the word. “Grey!” Ori helped and started laughing. “Heh! You can’t say that about my family… only I can call them GREY!” Kira joined in.

As they turned into the named gate from the main road, a few miles from the railway crossing, the large four level sprawling mansion with an old stone façade came into view. They had to drive for another ten minutes to cross the estate to the mansion. “Hmm! Rich famiglia, huh. Looks like I married up!!” Kira sighed, feeling nervous to meet Ori’s side of rich ancestral money and traditional family.

****

It turned out that there was nothing to be worried about or be nervous for Kira, the family was warm, welcoming and she felt right at home and there was a pot full of maccheroni alle polpette, translated as “spaghetti with meatballs” for non-Italians but the taste was no match to anything Kira had ever tasted, Zietta explained the recipe was in the family since least five generations.

“What is this again? It’s delicious!” Kira smiled as the family sat around in the living room after dinner.

“Corretto! It’s spiked espresso! Grappa makes everything delicious.” Ori smiled at Kira, “And I am not having any of that, because I am driving and we really need to leave, it’s past midnight.” He tapped his watch with his index finger.

“No! No! Nonsense! Non viaggiare così tardi, resta qui.” Zietta offered for them to stay back. “We have the guest room ready.” She said in broken English to Kira.

“No Zietta! We need to get to work early tomorrow. But it has been a pleasure and you will see a lot of me now.” Kira stood up to say her goodbyes.

****

“I need a smoke!” Ori stifled a burp, “Haven’t eaten so much and till so late in the night.” He yawned. “We could have stayed over!” Kira added, yawning.

Ori parked the car next to the railway crossing gate, completely deserted and dark besides the overhead lamp. He got down and took a puff of the vape after months and sighed. Kira sat in the car, she was surfing through the pictures she had taken of the night, when Ori started shouting, startling her.

“Hey! Hey!” Ori waved his hands to someone on the rail tracks. “Hey! Lady! Get away from there! Hey!” He waved frantically as the signal went red. “Shit! Shit!” He muttered and ducked under the gate and started walking towards the track, waving and shouting.

Kira instinctively took the car key, got down, locked the car and ran behind him. She pulled him off the track just in time for the train to pass, her phone and key fell down.

“What the fuck!” She yelled at him, “You fucking crazy!” she punched him on his chest, bringing him back from his sleepwalk. “Huh!” He shook his head from side to side. “There was a lady! She was wearing a red dress. She is… walking on the tracks… she must have gotten crushed!” He looked towards the track and mumbled. “There is no one baby! There is nothing on this track. Come back, let’s go home!” She held his hand and guided him away from the tracks to their car, after picking the phone and the car key.

Ori stopped in his tracks, his eyes got round with surprise as he looked in his car, he pointed towards the back seat of the locked car and covered his mouth with his other hand. “What?” Kira whispered, panic settling in the pit of her stomach. “It’s her! She is sitting in the back of our car!” He said slowly, swallowing painfully as his throat got suddenly parched.

“I can’t see anyone!” Kira held Ori’s hand tightly, their fingers intertwined, both refusing to move an inch, frozen to their position, under the lamp, ten feet away from their car. “She is looking out to the other side, she is wearing a red dress and her hair is all chunky… looks like… huh… dry blood… Oh Dio! Aiutaci per favore!” Ori stepped further away, taking a scared and confused Kira with him.

The lady slowly turned around, her neck bruised and lopsided, hair in clumps knotted with dried blood around the large wounds on the misshapen head. As she turned around and looked sightlessly towards the trembling couple, Ori’s blood ran ice cold. There were only dark sockets, as if the eyes had rotten away and the face was badly battered, thin dry lips were covered with blood. She had no expression, like she didn’t know where she was and had stumbled into someone else’s car. Ori suddenly realised with absolute dread that she wasn’t wearing a red dress, she was wearing a white dress which was soaked in blood… she was a bride.