Love, Probably.

Barty

Hey Evan
Hope you're alright!
I was wondering if there’s any chance you could send me or Reg anything you recorded from the wedding please? Having a bit of a mare with the videographer!

Hi, just wondering if you saw my last message, mate?

You don’t need to talk to me or anything
Just
Please, if you have anything usable, please send it to Reg.

I wouldn’t be asking if I wasn’t desperate, Evan!

Barty grumbled to himself as he left the bakery. He couldn’t believe he was about to do this. He pulled his jacket tighter around him as he began the ten-minute walk to Evan’s flat. He’d brought it up with Reg a couple of times, Evan’s lack of response, but Reg had told him that December was a busy month for Evan and to ask again in the new year. But Barty didn’t want to wait until the new year. He’d been making a video for Reg over the last year, and the final piece of that was something from their wedding, surely. After all, showing all of the chaos leading up to their big day and ending it on a sneaky shot Barty did of Reg arriving at the church, like a creeper, just seemed anticlimactic. So. He was about to beg. With cake.

He rang the doorbell, knowing that Evan always worked from home on Fridays and did his best to be as calm as he possibly could be. Which in that moment, wasn’t all that calm.

Evan opened the door, clearly expecting a parcel and blinked at Barty. He seriously considered closing the door in his face for a moment before swallowing audibly and leaning on the door frame.

“Surprise!” Barty said, holding out the bag from the bakery. “It’s Christmas cake. Well. No that’s a lie. It’s chocolate cake because fruit cake is all that’s wrong with the world. I don't give a fuck if it's Christmassy or not, I'd rather you enjoy it, you know? Uh, don’t suppose I could come in for a sec?”

Evan looked between Barty on the doorstep and the sanctuary of his home behind him. “I’m a bit busy, actually.”

“Just five minutes. I swear that’s all. Then I’ll go, I promise.” Barty held up his pinky finger, which Evan just stared at witheringly, before turning on his heel and walking back into the warmth of his house, leaving Barty to follow and close the door behind him. “Nice and warm in here,” Barty said, to nobody in particular.

“What do you want?” Evan set the bag on the table and folded his arms across his chest.

“I texted you a few times, I don’t know if you got them…”

“Oh, yes. Those. I meant to… Yes.” Evan had the decency to look a little embarrassed at his lack of response. “December is always busy.”

“Yeah, Reg mentioned that.” Barty frowned.

“Does he know that you’re here?” Evan asked.

“No,” Barty admitted. “He told me to leave it until the new year, but I can’t. So, our videographer has absolutely shit the bed, right? His hard drive is fucked and he reckons he can get it sorted, but probably not until January, and I’m hoping you can help. I just need a couple of shots of me and Reg from the wedding. They don’t have to be amazing… not that I don’t think they will be, I just…” He dragged a hand through his hair, “Fucks sake. I’ve been making Reg a video since last Christmas. Clips of all sorts of stuff, it’s probably rubbish. I’m sure you’d think it’s rubbish, but the point is that I have spent hours and hours on this thing and ending it with a grainy shot of Reg in his suit walking into a church doesn’t feel adequate. I know it’s stupid, but I’m a bit obsessed with the idea of ridiculous grand gestures and… I just need something, Evan, please.”

“Oh… well, I think I might have deleted it. I’d need to check the memory card.” He shifted awkwardly. “You want me to check now, don’t you?” He sighed as Barty grinned hopefully at him, and opened his laptop.

“Yes, but look… I know Reg and you are besties, and I know you’ve never warmed to me and maybe I hoped us getting married might change that—” Evan tried to interject “Don’t argue, we both know you don’t like me. But I really hope it can change eventually. I’m nice. Nice enough, anyway. I’m really fucking chaotic, don’t get me wrong, but I’m not a bad person, and I love Reg so much that it would be remiss of me not to bring it up. If you were anyone else, I wouldn’t give a toss if you liked me or not, but I know it’s hard for him to feel like he has to be in the middle all the time. I’d really like us to be friends.”

Evan frowned slightly but nodded and mumbled, “Absolutely. Yes, of course.”

Barty wasn’t convinced, he still sounded cold somehow, but it was a start, he reasoned. “Great…” He sat down on the sofa next to Evan and looked at the screen.

“Doesn’t mean I’ll be able to find the footage if it’s gone, though.” Evan shrugged. “I had a look when Reg mentioned it a few days ago.”

“What about that folder called ‘Barty Reg Wedding December 2024 FINAL’?” He laughed. “Could be worth a look?”

Evan’s cheeks darkened, “Well, I suppose that might be worth a look…”

He double-clicked the video file, setting the laptop on the coffee table and covering his face with his hands.

The video had clearly already been edited by Evan, which struck Barty as strange, but when he saw Reg’s face grinning at Evan, then turning into a look of awe as Barty appeared at the end of the aisle, he forgot about that.

“This is perfect! Could you send me…” Barty kept watching as the clip changed to the two of them doing the boring churchy stuff, mostly focused on how he was gazing into Reg’s eyes, then changed through various stages of the ceremony, including the chaste kiss, all focused on Barty. “You’ve stayed rather fucking close, haven’t you?” He laughed, and looked over at Evan, taking in the way he was peeking over his fingertips at the video. “Evan?”

Barty turned his attention back to the laptop and watched shot after shot of himself smiling, laughing, dancing, making speeches, drinking and glowing.

“It’s all me,” Barty said quietly.

“Uh, yeah. Yeah, I suppose it is.” Evan mumbled. I’m sure I still have the raw files somewhere, I’ll pop them up on Dropbox for you and send you the link later.”

“But… you don’t even like me.” Barty was utterly bewildered as Evan stood up and closed his laptop.

“I hope the footage is useful until you get the proper stuff back. I’ve got to… got stuff to do. Show yourself out, yeah?” He paused in the living room doorway. “It’s a self-preservation thing, Barty.” He said softly, before vanishing upstairs.