The parking lot was too far of a walk. Since the tourists were gone for the day, Caleb parked the car at the end of the road, next to the temple site. He used the flashlight on his phone to light Tristan's path as they walked across the plateau. Taking a seat on the temple steps, the moonlight reflecting on the calm sea, Caleb held Tristan's hand and turned out the light.

Only the stars were watching them.

"Do you like it, Baby?" Caleb asked him.

"It's just as beautiful at night" said Tristan, "It's no surprise Dr Terice recommended it. It feels like we're at the edge of a map."

Caleb smiled in the darkness.

"I wonder why we never came here before though..." said Tristan, "This is where you should have proposed..."

The lines of reality were blurred.

"If I asked you now... would you say 'yes'?" Caleb ventured.

Tristan laughed. "But we're already married, Husband" he said, "We just haven't had the ceremony yet. Right..?"

Tristan played his part too well, Caleb was starting to believe the lies he'd fabricated. The more he sank into the fantasy, the more he feared he was only dreaming.

"But if I asked you to marry me, right here and now, would you say 'yes'?" he asked again, determined to validate the meaningless status of their relationship.

The stars were glittering, the air was warm, and the man beside him was desperately in love with him. Tristan saw no reason to say no.

"If I marry you, will you give me anything I want?" he asked.

"Anything" Caleb replied.

Give me the years you said we were together. Turn back the clock and keep me from the pain of knowing how it feels to be abandoned... Tristan wanted the impossible. Had he really lost his memories on the day of the accident, how much happier might he have been, living in ignorance? He took back his hand and stood, walking closer to the precipice of the plateau.

"Careful Baby" said Caleb.

Tristan took another step. What if he'd really hit his head and forgotten everything that day? No memory of Jed, no Carl and Sarah... if he woke up and all he found was Caleb and the people who loved him, wouldn't that be better? He'd make new memories, with all the fear and pain vanishing in a cloud. 

He was making Caleb nervous with how close he was getting to the edge.

"Tristan..!"

Caleb pulled him back, his arms constricting his body like a snake as he backed him away from danger. He toppled back, onto the temple steps, his husband held safely in his arms; the fear of something happening again had returned. It was too much, he needed to hug him tighter, to keep him adhered to his body. Only then would he know that he was safe.

"Husband... it's hard to breathe" said Tristan, his temporary insanity subsiding.

"There are many stars in the sky. I can smell the sea. I can feel the rock against my back. I can hear the sound of the waves. Tristan is safe, I can feel him in my arms." 

Caleb was trying to calm himself.

"Tristan is safe" he repeated, clutching him tighter.

"I'm safe" said Tristan, turning to kiss his husband's tear-stained cheek.

Whatever pain he had suffered, it was all in the past. To hurt himself again would be to hurt Caleb, to hurt those that loved him. The warmth of his husband's embrace, the moonlight shining on his wet and blinking eyes... this moment heralded his new reality; to know what it was to be cherished.

"I'll marry you" said Tristan, "As the stars are my witness, I promise to be your husband."

Caleb's pulse began to slow.

"Husband..." the enchantment resounded in his head. "Husband, will you marry me?"

Caleb found Tristan's lips in the darkness. Rather than kiss him, he let their breaths mingle until at last their hearts were beating in unison.

"Today, yesterday, and tomorrow. You are the only man I will ever love. I've married you a thousand times, and I would marry you a thousand more. Tristan, my husband..." 

Contently coiled in Caleb's lap, Tristan looked out at the vast expanse of sky. They were just two dots in the cosmos, what did it matter if their love was unconventional? Who was passing judgement on two wholly insignificant souls? Their little lives were theirs to do with as they wished. Let them be happy.

'This is my husband, dad. He loves me enough to rewrite my past... Don't hate him for lying. The world he made for me is far more beautiful than the truth ever was.' 

Tristan kissed his husband, softly, deeply... reveling in his affection.

"I don't have a ring..." he said, as his hand traced the lines of Caleb's face.

"Tomorrow" said Caleb, his heart swelling with infinite gratitude, "I'll get you one tomorrow."

The couple sat for some time, watching the stars, and holding one another in the dark. Only when Tristan was ready to leave did Caleb realize his legs had fallen asleep.

"Don't wander too far!" said Caleb, stretching his useless limbs as Tristan freely walked around the temple.

Intoxicated by feelings of unadultered joy, Tristan giddily ran his hands across the ancient carved stone. The silent walls had stood for centuries; just how much love and pain had humanity experienced within them? As Tristan pondered, Caleb walked up behind him, catching his hands against the wall and kissing his neck.

"I want you..." he told him, his warm breath brushing against Tristan's ear.

"It's not too far" said Tristan, "we'll be back at the house soon..."

"No" said Caleb, "I can't wait that long. Please, Baby... let it be here."

Caleb's restless hands were kneading at Tristan's skin, his firm touch squeezing at every muscle in his body. Tristan was melting under the strength of his husband's fingers. Without his tacit approval, Caleb would continue to paw at him until his energy ran out.

Tristan smiled. His benevolence was endless.

"The heavens are watching you, Husband" he said, "You'd better show them what you're made of..."

Every version of Tristan was his favorite, but the confident Tristan was by far the sexiest. He knew no other taste but Tristan's, felt no greater wealth than the value of his beating heart and the warmth of his body. Against the ancient walls, the heavens heard his husband's cry, Tristan's satisfied moans echoed through the temple as Caleb proved his worth to the stars.

Hand in hand, they walked back to the car.

"I like it here" said Tristan, "I think we should come again."

Caleb was willing to come wherever Tristan wanted him to.

When the lovers returned to the house, they were surprised to see Michael sitting alone on the couch. As they entered the living room, he sprang from his seat.

"Where's Tibur..?" he asked them.

Tristan looked at Caleb, his happiness obscured by concern.

"We left him here with you" he told Michael, "Why would he be with us?"

Michael sank onto the couch, his head in his hands as he pulled at his hair. He hadn't thought to worry too much. He knew that Tristan and Caleb were nearby, where else would Tibur go if he was mad at him? He'd been a fool... and Tibur was missing.

"Explain" said Caleb.

"Nothing happened, if that's what you're worried about" said Michael, "I didn't even touch him... I just, fuck... I fucked up, okay? But it wasn't my fault this time. All I did was answer the phone."

"Who's phone?" asked Tristan, thinking that maybe he'd invaded Tibur's privacy.

"My own!" said Michael defiantly, Caleb stepping closer the second he raised his voice. "I was on the phone and he left. I thought he must have gone to find you..." 

 He had enough shame not to tell them Tibur was naked on his bed when he answered Paul's phonecall.

"Well, have you called him?" asked Tristan.

Michael shook his head. He hadn't dared to.

While Tristan dialed his number, Caleb kept him in check on the couch. Until they knew what was going on, Michael would stay exactly where Tristan wanted him.

"Tibur..? Where are you?"

Michael's eyes were following Tristan as he took the call outside.

"Just sit down" said Caleb, "Whatever you've done, you've done enough."

A few minutes later, Tristan came back inside.

"I know it's late" he told his husband, "but can you drive us home? I don't want to stay here any more."

"Of course Baby" said Caleb, "I'll pack our things."

While Caleb went to the bedroom, Tristan stared down at Michael. He didn't have the courage to look back at him.

"Is Tibur okay..?" he asked, his eyes glued to the floor as he wrung his hands together.

"Who called you tonight?" Tristan asked, "Someone important..? Someone more important than the man you've been chasing non-stop since you met him?"

"What did he say?" asked Michael, "Look, there's been some kind of misunderstanding. Paul's just a friend. There's nothing between us; I'm not even gay!"

Tristan stood watching him, his eyes were laced with judgement.

"Not that there's anything wrong with that" said Michael, "It's just... look, this is his place. He's doing us a favor letting us stay here, we should at least be grateful. If he calls I can't just ignore it, can I? He's not the kind of person you can ignore."

"Then what does that make Tibur?" asked Tristan, "The kind of person you can?"

"Of course not! It's just... Paul and I have been friends for years. He's someone I look up to, he's..."

He's Carl and Sarah, thought Tristan, the person you want to impress, even at the expense of the one that cares about you the most.

"Let me ask you something" said Tristan, "If the roles were reversed, if Paul was busy when you called him, would he still have picked up..?"

Michael remembered the night his pilot's license was suspended, how he'd called non-stop with no answer as he drank alone in that cheap hotel room in Straad. It had been a week before he'd bothered to get back to him.

"Tibur deserves better..."

Tristan was done with him. As he went to join Caleb in the bedroom, Michael grabbed his wrist.

"I didn't mean to hurt him" he said, "It's like I can't help it... when I'm with those guys they make me feel like I'm nothing, you know? Like I have to prove I'm what they want me to be!"

Tristan stared coldly at Michael's hand.

"You'd better let go before Caleb sees. He'll rip your fucking hand off for touching me."

Michael shrunk back.

"Ask yourself, how did Tibur make you feel when you were with him? Was all that chasing him around just to prove to yourself that you could have him if you wanted to?"

That wasn't it... at least not anymore.

Caleb came out of the bedroom with their bags.

"I'm revoking our deal" he told Michael, "The apartment at the Phoenicia is no longer yours to stay in. Your friend's place seems a better fit for you."

"You're not serious!" said Michael.

"Baby? What do you think?" Caleb asked his husband.

Tristan nodded sadly, he couldn't bear to let him stay so close to Tibur.

"It's like that?" said Michael, "Fine. Tristan, I think you need to know a little about your husband. Like how before your accident you weren't even living together! What do you think that means? It means things aren't as fine as he's been telling you. What are the chances he fucked up worse than I did? He even had a private detective keeping tabs on you! Whatever you thought about your relationship, don't bother to believe a word he says!"

Caleb's fist was clenched behind his back.

"Are you finished?" asked Tristan.

"What more is there to hear? He's been lying to you! Your marriage was over. He's been feeding you lies to try and patch things up but it doesn't change the fact that it was already broken. Who's to say he wasn't the reason you had an 'accident' in the first place..?"

"I'm to say" said Tristan confidently, "Because I remember everything."

Caleb's eyes widened in fear, his legs trembling as he tried to remain on his feet.

"There's nothing I don't know, and no crack for you to exploit. Who cares about our past? Our marriage is all the stronger for it. My husband is my home, my truth. And you..."

"What?" asked Michael, his weapon against them defective, "What am I?"

"You're so angry that you ruined your own happiness, that you'd even want to sabotage someone else's. But it won't work. I'm through with letting other people decide what's allowed to make me happy. Husband" said Tristan, his resolute eyes directed at Caleb, "Let's go home."