Douglas knew, on some level, it was going to be like this: he was there mostly for Carolyn’s sake, Martin and Theresa having sent their well-wishes along with regrets that they couldn’t make the wedding, and God knew he had all sorts of complex feelings about the whole thing. It was good to see his friend and her son find their own closure, he’d never deny that—he’d spent years at their side, had some idea of what they’d been through, and it was a happy day—but he hadn’t expected, well—

The old friend from Air England was much better at all this than Douglas had ever, ever expected him to be.

(extract from WIP: Per finita lietamente, e all’usanza teatrale. drawing prompt from @sircarolyn way back in january: ‘douglas staring longingly at herc and linda’)