Page 52 of Regret Me Not
“We should know.”
He’d be a unicorn for the rest of his life—forever—if it meant Hal could be there next to him, snarking, believing, playing, for every Christmas—and every day thereafter.
IT TOOKthem less than an hour to be ready to leave.
Pierce locked up the condo regretfully—it had been a good home for a month. It had, in fact, been witness to some of the happiest moments of his life.
“Where’re we going again?” Hal asked, checking the Lego Christmas tree carefully, surrounded in its bed of teddy bears and brightly wrapped gifts.
“Orlando,” Pierce said, holding up his phone. “I’ve got the directions here, because I can’t remember for shit.”
Hal nodded, like he got that. “And afterward?”
Pierce dared him with his eyes. “North Carolina,” he said, wondering if this would get him left on the curb. “To tell your parents to forward your mail to Sacramento.”
Hal jerked back. “That’s a terrible idea.”
“Indeed it is. Gonna fight me on it?”
“Mm….” Hal gnawed that lush lower lip. “No. No—it shall be terrible and uncomfortable and irritate the crap out of them. They’ll loathe you.”
“Excellent. Ilikethis plan!”
“And after that?” Hal prodded.
“New York,” Pierce said grandly. “I’ve never been. I don’t have to be home until February. Let’s enjoy this shit.”
A dreamy smile took over Hal’s face. “Really? Adventures?”
“Two knights riding a CR-V unicorn,” Pierce told him grandly.
“Two unicorns with opposable thumbs,” Hal corrected.
“We’ll conquer the world,” Pierce decided, hopping in the car and getting this road on the show.
He slammed the door with a satisfying thunk, and Hal hopped in and hit the ignition.
“As long as in the end we end up in the same stable.” Hal’s eyes were big and limpid amber, and Pierce got it.
“Yeah, unicorn,” he said gently, squeezing Hal’s knee. “There’s home at the end of the rainbow. I promise.”
Hal’s face lit up, like he’d needed to hear it one more time. “Then into the great wide yonder it is!” He gestured grandly into the unexpectedly bright, crisp day, and hit the ignition.
They had relatives to visit and cookies to bake and grand adventures before them.
And a life together at the end of the quest.
There had never been happier unicorns.