I stop when my muscles begin to groan. Then I float on the water’s surface, letting my body cool down, taking in the sounds of the house as it begins to awake. Shutters creaking open. Metal and porcelain clanking together in the kitchen. A handful of people laughing down below, past the cliff, and the soft echo of church bells in the distance. The rhythm of the waves. After ten minutes, when the tips of my fingers grow raisin-like and cold shivers run down my spine, I force myself to get out of the water.

On the edge of the pool there is a clean, neatly folded towel.

The breakfast room is at full capacity, the table as richly loaded as yesterday morning—except this time there’s a dozen of us eating.

“Nice to see that people are recovering,” I say, pouring myself some freshly squeezed orange juice.

“I don’t know.” Tamryn shrugs. “I miss feeling one with the plumbing system. The sense of belonging that came with it.”

“Really made me reconnect with my spirituality,” Nyota agrees.

I sneak a piece of bread to Tiny and wait for my breakfast, taking in the various conversations flowing around me. It’s a first, seeing the entire wedding party together in the light, and I cannot help noticing that these twelve disparate people Rue and Eli put together, all seem to get along.

More than that: they like each other. Paul is showing Avery pictures of his garden; Diego, Minami, and Sul are bonding over a video game that involves elf-fucking. Rue laughs with Tisha, and does not look like she’d rather be elsewhere.

“What are you thinking?” Nyota asks me, slathering a fresh croissant with butter.

“Not much. Just having a bit of a take-stock-of-your-life moment.”

“How so?”

“I was thinking that if I were to get married tomorrow, I wouldn’t have this many friends to invite.”

Tamryn laughs. “I bet you have tons of friends.”

Maybe, by certain metrics. I’m not shy or introverted. But I lost most of my college friend group when I refused to be more gracious about Alfie and Georgia, and while I’ll never stop missing Rose, I’ve come to accept that our falling-out was inevitable. When I returned to Austin I reconnected with high school friends, and I love them dearly, but in the years I was gone we grew in different directions. The one person I can always count on is Jade. We’ve been close since our figure-skating days, and even though we fell off while I was in Edinburgh, she never seems to hold it against me. Sometimes we fight, but we always get over ourselves. She is what Minami and Conor are for Eli: My ride or die. The one I’d do an airport run for. The one I’d drop everything for if she asked me to be there, whether it’s to help her bury a body, or to be her witness when she elopes with…a toadstool, probably.