Something Celebrated

By
Edward woke up to the sound of his cellphone ringing. He was still at Aaliyah's apartment, though they had moved to her bed sometime through the early morning after coming to the conclusion that the carpet just wouldn't cut it.
            Aaliyah wasn't in the room, but Ed figured that she had either gone to work or had some other obligation to fulfill. He sat up in bed, glad that it was summer as most of the duvet were on the ground, on the other side of the room small room. His phone stopped ringing just as he attempted to stretch in order to get it from his shirt pocket that had been slung over a chair.
            Ed got up from the bed and put on his boxer and pants. He then made his way out the room to the kitchen, where he found Aaliyah preparing breakfast.
            "Hey beautiful," he said as he grabbed her waist from behind and kissed her neck.
            "Hey!" she replied and turned around. She wore an old Golden Lions jersey and a pair of shorts.
            "No work today?"
            "Nope. I called in sick," she explained and fed him a piece of the toast she was nibbling at before he came in. "How are you feeling?" she then asked and ate the last piece of toast.
            "Quite good, actually!" Ed exclaimed and gave her another kiss, pushing her up on the counter. He then proceeded to tickle her lightly around her waist, a spot he had discovered the night before. "You know," he then said after a short while and cleared his throat, "I really do like you."
            "And I really do like you too!" she said and embraced him.
            Just before they could get too carried away, his phone rang again.
 
Ed arrived home and pulled up behind Dev's Jeep Wrangler who stood in the driveway. He then got out and walked around to the passenger's side, opened it up and retrieved a box full of alcoholic beverages which he had bought on his way back from Aaliyah's.
            "Hey!" Dev called from the living room as he saw Ed coming in, and got up to hell him pack the bottles out onto the island counter.
            "Hey, man. All good?" Ed asked as they packed the bottles out.
            "You know me," he answered, "taking it one minute at a time!"
            "Hey buddy!" JR called as he came around the corner with Ian.
            "Hey Ed," Ian said last, "Aaliyah doing okay?"
            Ed nodded and winked in Ian's direction who merely smiled and walked to the other side of the kitchen to retrieve some glasses.
            "So it's just us?" JR asked when Ian rejoined the lot of them.
            "Yeah. I thought that it would only be us tonight. The original four."
            "The original four!" JR exclaimed and held up his glass the moment Dev had filled it.
            "To us," Ed joined in, smiling, "taking it one minute at a time!"
            Devon handed Ian his glass and the two of them raised their hands before all of them gulped down their entire glasses.
 
As the night went on, they found themselves staying inside, and on the first floor for once., laughing and talking about everything and everyone, most conversations of which had been along the lines of what had happened right after they had finished school. The so called "lost" era when none of them except Ian and JR really stayed in touch a lot.
            "So I'm well over 20 --"
            "30!" Dev interrupted JR, and then held a glass of vodka in the air.
            "Yeah, okay. So I'm just over 30, and I only just find out that all three of my best buddies have been super secret top notch spies for a good decade! And you know, what? I still love you guys like there's no tomorrow! Wherever the future may bring us!" JR said while half-drunk.
            Ed, who didn't drink as much, stood at the back near the kitchen along with Ian, who had also opted to take his alcohol steady. "And we love you, man," Ed then said after JR had gulped down the glass he had just toasted with.
            "Yeah. Forget about the past, but live for the future!" Dev called, then Ian stepped forward.
            "Remember the fallen," he said solemnly, "forget all the bullshit, all the trouble and the lies. Forget the ones who had brought us pain. Forget each bullet we had spent taking lives. But remember the ones who loved us enough to sacrifice themselves for us."
            "Remember those who had given us the gift of life again," Ed added when Ian looked down, "remember the times where we would think of life as just another vacation..."
            "But always look to the future," Dev then said, "look to the future, for that is where we will be ending up. Look to the future, for that is where the ones who had sacrificed themselves were looking for us. And fight. Fight for the future. Fight with me."
            "And me," Ed then said as he looked back up and at Ian.
            "And me," Ian echoed, stared at Ed, then walked to the other side of the room and patted JR on the shoulder.
            "And me," JR finished quietly. "The original four," he muttered as he gulped down another glass of vodka.

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