“I’ve heard all about you” she smiled. She was beautiful- just like Kenny had expected her to be. Her voice was sharp and powerful, with a distinct French accent that proved she had only moved recently. Her icy blue eyes were highlighted by the contrast provided by her jet-black hair and deep-red lips. Her face was aquiline, with finely shaped cheek bones and a small sharp nose. As he looked down, Kenny noticed her fingertips. They looked hard- even calloused at some points, leading him to think that whatever her degree was, it involved detail-oriented craftsmanship. They were all seated outside under the soft morning sun on the viewing balcony of a fancy hotel, chatting and getting to know one another while breakfast chilled in the breezy morning air. With the sun directly behind her, its rays lined her in an angelic gold perfecting her royal look. Kenny waited till she focused on her food for a moment, tapped his brother’s hands and mouthed ‘Pretty’ with a delighted nod.

Denny smiled back, “I know.” He whispered.

“Unfortunately,” Kenny chuckled politely, “I haven’t heard much about you at all”, still impressed at how easily his brother had pulled someone so uniquely beautiful. Then again, his brother wasn’t the wimpy ‘skateboard’ kid he had been when he had left. He had grown just as complementarily handsome. He fiddled with his fork and sneakily looked at his brother through the curtain of hair that had fallen over his eye to see if he had said the wrong thing and triggered his emotions. She looked at her fiancée, her eyes narrowed and her head resting on her smooth, bare arm. Denny looked back at her. She raised her eyebrow, her lips slightly parted in unamusement.

“You two” Kenny smirked enjoying the awkward fun tension between them, shoving a small dollop of potato into his mouth, “are going to make a LOVELY couple” he said, the sarcasm overflowing from his already full maw. His mother who sat beside him, slapped his shoulder with a satisfying CLICK like the sound of a cricket bat coming in contact with the ball, making Denny snicker.

“We’ll see on the day you have your engagement party, right Riona?” Denny snapped playfully. Kenny’s engagement party? Kenny’s blood ran cold. Well, it definitely won’t be as peaceful and formal as this one. The world would more or less end: a geyser of lava will erupt from underneath the table, the sky will turn green, ravens will start swooping in and eating the brunch, people in the streets will start howling like wild jackals. Maybe, he and Lane should run away and spend the rest of their lives in the forest- with the rabbits! Rabbits are nice. That is…if he ever had an engagement party in the first place. He suddenly felt extreme pang of loneliness. He knew that that loneliness was just a brief preview of what he would feel after his brother left the house permanently. More than that, it was the weird loneliness – the feeling of missing out - he felt that unlike his brother, he did not have a romantic partner- did not have someone to hold, did not have someone to brush his lips against and kiss good night. Maybe it was more envy than loneliness. He punished himself for it by biting the inside of his cheek.

“Kenny, chill!” Denny snorted, breaking Kenny out of his trance, “I was only kidding”. It was then that Kenny realized he hadn’t been using his inside emotions- his face had been displaying everything his mind had seen like an HD projector. He dabbed his mouth courteously with his napkin to try and draw the attention away from himself. It didn’t necessarily work out.

He smiled, “I’ll be ready, just in case” he winked, making Riona giggle.

“You are such a cute kid!” she squeaked, reaching over and ruffling his hair. He appreciated the love; however, he had taken quite some time and effort to comb his hair as possibly neat as feathery layers could be-which wasn’t much.

“So how did you two meet?” Kenny’s father Beau finally spoke up. Kenny shuffled in his seat excitedly- now this would be juicy!

“It was summer, about two years ago, where the arts department at Chestnut Brown’s Higher Academy decided to restart the tradition of the Annual Film Festival. All the students in campus participated: the arts students acted, performed and drew up props and costumes or animations, the computer and IT department worked with lights and sound, the digital media team worked on editing and tweaking any small mishaps; the science and math sector worked on the construction of the small theatre located in National Park.” Denny described outting on what Kenny called his 'performance voice'.

“Get to the good part” Kenny ordered. He was proud of his brother’s work for sure, but right now, knowing the sappy stuff seemed much more important.

“Alright, Kenny” Riona put her hands up. She turned to his father, “Mr. Moore, let me be honest with you. I have never seen or worked with any one more proactive and talented than your son.”

“Which one?” Beau joked. Kenny could safely say that he got his slightly annoying attitude from his father- and he was proud of it!

“The big one” she snickered back.

Denny beamed, “what she means is: she fell in love with my muscles while she was taking measurements for my costume”

“I did NOT fall for your stupid protein lumps” she insisted, pushing him gently, “you didn’t even have them back then”

“Did too!” he flexed, taking up both Riona’s and Beau’s elbow room. “Oh Dennis!” he tried mimicking her tone and accent but ended up sounding more Russian than French “wow aren’t you strong! Such lovely veins!”

“Foutre” she cursed.

Denny gasped, and fanned himself dramatically, “Oh she’s feisty!”

“He really is good at acting” Kenny agreed, “How else does he get everything he wants from mom? Persuasion. Emotion. Manipulation. In other words – acting” he said, slamming his fist lightly on the table at every key word.

“Kenny, you are getting a little annoying” Denny seethed. Kenny had decided that he should spend the last days with his brother in the most memorable way possible. What could be more memorable than driving him absolutely nuts at his engagement party? He was having one of his moments. Nevertheless, he held his tongue.

“I’m just telling Riona what she’s getting herself into” he shrugged. Riona sneered at the older brother, tilting her head towards Kenny to mark off that he made a good point.

“I’ll keep that in mind” she said villainously, bobbing her head slowly and flicking the last pea off her plate into her mouth with perfect accuracy, making everyone smile. Kenny liked her- he was glad his brother had left her as a surprise. His eye caught the elegant sapphire engagement rings glistening on each of their ring-fingers, the soft blue glow in them making him smile inside out.

“Welp” Denny chirped, patting his thighs loudly before getting up, “thank you all so much for attending! Wedding’s on the first of February!”

Kenny almost spit his drink, “That’s in a month!”