“If my brother had not been so stubborn, none of this would have happened,” he says as tears well in his eyes. He takes a breath to steady himself and continues: “And I’ve never been more grateful for his bullheadedness in my life!” He, and everyone else in the church, laughs.

Dean will never forget that epic night when his brother, Danny, had forced him to go to Chrissy Carlisle’s party. He’d just wanted to stay home and finally finish reading East of Eden, but his twin had failed to get his driver’s licence twice already and needed a driver. Then he’d thought he’d just sit in the car and read until Danny passed out and had to be taken home. But he’d needed the bathroom and wandered inside. Danny immediately thrusted a drink into his demanded that he stay a while and actually have a little fun.

Dean had to relent. He’d stayed on the edges of the crowd, swaying to the music. Is There a Ghost began to play and that’s when he saw Kendrick. Wearing a Band of Horses shirt. The way he moved was mesmerising: his dark skin the perfect canvas for the multicoloured lights above, his muscles stretching and contracting in a liquid way. Dean thought he was drugged or dreaming when this gorgeous stranger grabbed him and started dancing.

They were inseparable for the rest of the night- and into the morning. Even though they’d only known each other for a couple hours it felt like they’d been together for centuries. They talked. About books, about music, about the future. Their future.

Down the aisle there are snapdragons and anemones; their favourite flowers. The room is filled with love. Dean’s parents refused to come (or even acknowledge his relationship with Kendrick to begin with) but Danny is right there beside him as his best man.

Kendrick says “I do” and then so does Dean, as if there was a chance in Hell, Heaven, or any universe that the answer would be different.

“Come on, let’s party!” shouts Danny, and once the cheering and confetti-throwing are done that’s exactly what they do. Kendrick and Dean share their first dance as husband and husband to Is There a Ghost.

They don’t need me to tell you that they’ll live happily ever after, just that Dean managed to finish that damn book.