5 Golden Rings!

 

Justin could hardly think with Tristan taking over the wedding like he did, all in a matter of minutes in Justin and Carmen's kitchen. Suddenly, Tristan was the one with all the answers. He'd get Ari to officiate the wedding. It would be down at the pizzeria.

"If it wasn't so damn cold, we could do it on the roof. They have weddings up there, you know." Tristan was thinking out loud while Justin kept his arms crossed, wondering what they had gotten themselves into.

"We could be at the zoo, you know?" Carmen kneaded his shoulders. He knew whose side she was on. Of course, it was Jared, he'd like to throttle, but then Tristan was stirring more ideas. 

"You two can move into Mom and Dad's house, and I could stay here!" He was so damn giddy, and Carmen looked like she was on the Price is Right. 

It was starting to make Justin nauseous. His head was hurting, and damn if she didn't pinch his neck.

"Just stop, will you?"

Tristan thought he was talking to him as Carmen kept kneading.

"No, I mean, you, Carmen." He looked back at her. She stopped and went to warm Tristan's coffee. Naturally, he wouldn't take a break from all the pacing.

Finally, Tristan and Carmen went down the hallway to talk in private. Randy showed up with his hands deep in the pockets of his favorite hoodie and gave Justin an envelope.

"What's this?" Justin winced.

Randy sat down across from him at the dining table. He didn't look Justin in the eye. "I've been meaning to give this to you for a while."

"A while?"  Justin scowled. "Are you leaving?" That would be the last straw. This was all Jared's fault, leaving so abruptly. Jared said he would see Justin at Christmas, for sure. But now Tristan had plans for the wedding to be on the twenty-third, hardly a week away.

"No, not a chance," Randy smiled. "I like living here."

"Oh."

"It's about that drama."

"Oh, God, there's way too much drama." Justing shook the thought that he would never be the same again once he was in Carmen's Foster family.

"No, I mean the Chinese drama." His smile was quick. He said he'd tweaked the script that Jared wrote all those months ago. "I mean, it's your idea, I just made it more of an academy story. It's still got the bromance. Just something more like a game."

"A game?"

"Well, you know who liked it." Randy was serious, but he wouldn't say Cassie's mother's name.

"Did you find out anything about Cassie?" Justin asked.

"No." Randy was silent about that. It was quiet. Justin couldn't imagine what was in the envelope. 

"It's a savings account. Think of it as a wedding present." Randy told him.

He looked at the sum then. There was more than enough in the account for Justin and Carmen to have a safety net for the new year. Justin's eyes bulged in surprise. 

"Oh, no." Justin shook his head and pushed the envelope back toward Randy.

"Quit being your own worst enemy." Randy was dead serious. "You've done a lot for me. You're like a dad I always wanted, even if we are more like brothers. I want to help you. You helped me."

"But..but.." Justin looked at Randy so puzzled.

"Randy!" Tristan jarred them as he peeked around the kitchen door. "Know anyone who needs a room?"

"Maybe." Randy shrugged.