Page 129 of All That We Are Together

“It must be our genes.”

I laughed. When I picked up the receipt, I saw the waitress had written her name and number on the back. I showed it to him as we walked down the street under a fine rain, and he blew it off, just as I did.

“Looks like you don’t have much trouble hooking up.”

“It’s the years of experience.”

“Really I’d just as soon not think about your and Axel’s college days here,” I said, wrinkling the ticket up and throwing it in the trash.

“Trust me, it’s better that way.” He started cracking up.

“That’s not funny!” I pushed him.

“What do you want me to tell you?” He smiled nostalgically and then turned serious. “We can’t change who we’ve been, but we can decide who we want to be. I remember I told Axel that. When you least expect it, someone shows up and turns your life upside down. I guess I was too focused on myself to realize that it had already happened to him. Come here, pixie.”

He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me into his ribs, and we stayed that way until we reached the door to the dorm. He’d planned on going to a hotel, but I insisted he stay over in my room. We laid out some blankets on the floor and wound up lying there talking about life, our parents, the days we should have treasured more and thought about all the time now.

“Remember that Supertramp song Mom loved so much? What was it called?”

“‘The Logical Song.’ I bought that record recently.”

“You used to dance to it with her in the kitchen.”

“I was so little. I barely remember.”

“I’ve forgotten things too.” He looked up at the ceiling, which was dark except for the glare of the streetlights. The sound of rain kept us company. “But I do remember that in our house, there was almost always music.”

“And color. Lots of color.”

“Yeah, color everywhere.”

“You need to get up early tomorrow,” I reminded him.

“Yeah. We should try and get some sleep.”

“Good night, Oliver.”

“Good night, pixie.”

125

Axel

It was hard for me to ask Oliver to come to Byron Bay one day, but it was a delicate situation, and even if I didn’t need him there for it, I wanted him there.

We decided to have lunch in a little spot facing the sea. After he finished his piña colada and it was starting to get late, I told him what I had in mind for that night. He blinked at first, confused, but when I gave him the details and told him my father and Justin would pitch in, he smiled from ear to ear.

So we did it. We carried on with the plan.

We went to pick them up once it was nighttime. First Dad, then Justin. Oliver laughed when he saw Justin leaving his house dressed entirely in black. He got into the back seat.

“What’s so funny?” he asked.

“Nothing. I’m just surprised you took it so seriously.”

“All you need is a ski mask to keep from drawing anyone’s attention,” Oliver added.

“I think your outfit’ssick, son.” Dad smiled.