It took her awhile to find him, but she did. Summer couldn’t imagine what he was going through and while she had the bad habit of pushing herself away from others, for a moment, she decided to ignore that instinct, making a few steps closer to where he was standing, wrapping her arm around his waist and resting her head on his shoulder.
She didn’t want to be there, and maybe they shared the same opinion, but they were. The soung was echoing, and soon she decided sharing a few words wouldn’t be so bad, specially since he addressed something at her. “They are not bad. I’m waiting for my song, the lead singer said he had something prepared for me,” she teased, allowing a smile to play on her lips. “We’ll see what 2017 has for all of you,” she didn’t want to sound optimistic, that was Libby’s way of living, and if she tried, she’d sound fake. But Gabe also didn’t need her pessimism, so she remained on that thin line between both views. Sharing the necessary. “My father asked about you, he’s probably throwing himself in the sea with my mother. So, in case he tries to hug you, it’ll be wet.”
It was no longer strange but comforting, how he didn’t need to hear her voice to differentiate her touch or her presence from that of anyone else. The moment Summer’s arm wrapped around his waist, he tilted his own head to press softly against hers while his eyes still looked forward to the boys playing on stage. Between his mother’s ill health and his long days at the hospital, her death and the funeral, it had been a while since they had any normalcy in their relationship or a time that was just theirs. “We should definitely stick around, then. It’s all about those extravagant love confessions, isn’t it?” He managed to answer after a soundless chuckle. The song ended. The lead singer addressed the crowd. Some cheered. Others raised their beers asking for another song. Gabe wrapped his arm around the woman’s shoulders to bring her closer, taking in a set of deep breaths. He was happy she was there. He didn’t know if he would’ve been able to pull through this otherwise.
“We’ll see.” The curve on his lips was genuine and easy, turning carefully on their embrace, taking in the sight of her for a second. “Are we still allowed to make resolutions? I was never good in keeping those. Once I made my resolution to be learning how to tap dance. Surprisingly, I followed that one through. I’ll show you if you promise you won’t laugh.” But laughing was all he expected and that was the main reason he’d do it, to be honest. He was trying, too, to stop sulking. After all, it’s what his mother would’ve told him to do. And the mention of Mr. Hale also helped. They may have started off the wrong foot, or rather, him being scared shitless of the man, but Gabe had grown to admire and appreciate Summer’s father. Perhaps the absence of his own had something to do in it but he found himself looking forward to whenever the family came to town. “Throwing himself in the sea? Why aren’t we? That way neither of our outfits would be ruined by the other.”
