The Anniversary

Gethin was waiting at the end of my street when I came down, with his ticket in his hand and no equipment whatsoever.

“You can put that away until we arrive,” I said.

“I wanted to check I had it.”

“You’ve checked.”

“Three times.”

I took his free hand. His fingers were cold. Mine weren’t much better, despite the ten minutes I had spent indoors deciding whether the dress from the fundraiser was a declaration or merely clean.

It was the same dress. I had left the badge in a drawer.

“You look lovely,” he said.

“I look familiar.”

“Both.”

There were things I could have said to that, all of them designed to make receiving it easier. I kissed him instead. He tucked the ticket safely away before he put his arm round me.

We walked slowly. I knew we would miss the first arrivals and that Fenna would…