The queue stretched from the bay up the high street to the church.
She pushed past, ignored the complaints.
Inside the church was transformed.
White netting draped from each wall, white flowers rose from tall vases at the end of each pew. Mae looked to the ceiling and saw lanterns had been hung from the wooden arches.
The concert had already started.
She realised then that the people outside wouldn’t get in, they’d just come to show their support, maybe to get close enough to hear Theodore sing.
She stood at the back and looked out over five hundred.
Sally sat behind the piano and played those same notes Mae had heard outside her house, those notes that broke her heart all over again.
Theodore sat there with others.
They’d left a chair for Abi, her violin on the seat.
Mae crept her way along the stone. Between the nets she caught sight of townspeople. Mrs Abbott and her husband. Theodore’s parents. She saw Jon Prince sitting beside Hugo, who wore a tie and kept his eyes down, like he was carrying the weight of his father’s sins.
Mae caught sight of Jeet, who sat in the wings on a plastic chair, his hands pressed neatly between his knees. There was something pure about the way he watched them, the way his breath caught when Theodore stood.
Mae moved closer, so close she could almost reach the stage.
She saw the small tables to the side of them.
The glass of water on Theodore’s.
Mae thought of Jeet Patel waiting for his chance, his time to stand in the light.
She edged closer.
Mae crept low, avoiding everyone’s eye, trying to look official as she grabbed the glass from in front of Theodore. She took it back to the corner, out of sight, her heart still racing, her hair matted down with sweat.
She breathed.
And then she froze as Theodore sang.
Sally matched him on the piano.
Mae recognised the song. The words.
His voice cannoned from the old roof, rattling it till the wood splintered and light fell on them.
Mae let her eyes drift to the stained glass. And she remembered sitting there between her parents, back when the world made some kind of sense. Back when Selena was a faraway thing in a faraway sky.
She thought of Abi, of everything they knew and everything they dreamed of. She needed her then, despite Felix, despite the Forevers all around her, she needed her friend, to hold her hand when she jumped, to tell her everything didn’t need to be okay, so long as they had each other.
Mae saw Lydia Manton sitting alone in a corner.
Theodore’s parents were uniform in their smiles.
Sergeant Walters cried silently. Mae thought of his father, still in that room, in that chair.
As Theodore sang about the creeps and the weirdos, Candice was the first to turn, and she nudged Lexi. Others turned as Sullivan Reed appeared at the back of the church.
The notes died and people stood, their applause so thunderous Mae felt it in her bones.
Theodore took a brief bow and walked down the aisle.
And Sullivan walked towards him.
They met in the centre, and melted into one perfect kiss.
The applause didn’t stop.
They held each other, lost, the words on their wrists so bold.
Mae looked over at Jeet Patel, who smiled at her with such sadness in his eyes.
She wanted to be wrong, more than anything, right then she needed to be wrong.
Mae brought the glass to her nose, inhaled and breathed out slow.
She crossed the stone floor and hugged Jeet tightly. ‘Thank you.’
He smiled. ‘For what?’
‘For being everything good.’