“I’m so nervous,” Archer remembered saying over breakfast, picking at his toast, leg jittering under the table. “My stomach is in knots. I think I might actually vomit.”

Mateo had nodded and put his spoon down. He had oatmeal for breakfast every single morning. “Do you want to move in?” Mateo asked, words loud and sure. “For good?”

Archer’s leg stopped jittering. “What?”

Mateo took Archer’s hand. “Move in with me. Stay. Please.” His eyes crinkled. “This is me begging again, to be clear.”

Archer tried to swallow, throat dry. “I—What if we don’t get this job? I’m almost broke—”

“I don’t care if we get it or not.” Mateo took his other hand. “You will get a job. I know it. You belong here, Archer. You belong in New York. You belong with me. Please stay.”

Archer nodded, struggling to put together a sentence. A tear slipped out as he smiled. “I’ll stay.”

A little bit later, after they celebrated, Mateo whispered the words into his skin. “I love you, Archer.”

Archer took them and folded them into his heart. “I love you too.”

He had never had a more satisfying conversation with his parents. “I belong here,” he told them, knowing it was true, deep down inside, the same way he knew he was meant to dance.

They crushed their audition for Breckon’s show, and the next day he got the rest of his stuff from Sasha and Lynn’s place. He found the sunniest windowsill in Mateo’s apartment—their apartment—for his plants.

“Did you miss me?” he had whispered to Danny and Belle and Spot as he arranged them next to Eileen, the new plant Mateo gave him, a little cactus with purple flowers.

Now, a year later, Lynn and Sasha had had their wedding ceremony earlier that day at city hall, with their parents present. And Archer and Mateo were about to be late for the reception at a charming French restaurant in the West Village.

“We’re here, we’re here!” Archer cried, rushing from the cab to the wrought iron front door where Lynn waited with Sasha, tapping her foot. “Congratulations! You look beautiful!” he cried, pausing for a quick cheek kiss for each of them before he and Mateo scurried inside. Both women wore simple white dresses—Lynn’s was a strapless sheath, and Sasha’s was soft and flowy, with lace cap sleeves and an empire waist.

The restaurant was draped with fairy lights, eucalyptus leaves, and Queen Anne’s lace, candles flickering on every table. Archer and Mateo hurried in and sank into the two empty seats next to Betty and … Caleb?

“Caleb! Hi! What are you doing here?” Archer leaned over to give him a hug.