With everyone drunk and laughing and dancing, Fang was the only one who noticed that the wedding cake was gone.
It was a beautiful wedding. Ed looked gorgeous in the long, white dress Wee John had made for him, and he had started crying as soon as he saw Stede waiting for him at their makeshift altar. Actually, both of them had spent most of the day crying with joy, as did the rest of the crew. Fang had had his doubts when he learned that Buttons would be officiating, but he had managed to give a surprisingly romantic speech, even as a bird.
And the cake! Oh, the cake was just perfect. Pete had whittled some adorable little cake toppers that Lucius had lovingly painted to look like Stede and Ed, and Roach had truly outdone himself with a delicious three-tier cake. It was a little too sugary for Fang's taste, but Ed always had a sweet tooth, and Roach and Stede were happy to indulge him.
But now the wedding cake was gone, and so, apparently, was Roach. Fang had wanted to ask him for a dance and looked everywhere for him, but Roach was nowhere to be found.
Maybe he had left early to do the dishes? But why would he need the wedding cake for that? After the last big party on the Revenge, Roach had needed a whole spa day to relax, but eating cake while cleaning didn’t seem very relaxing, especially because it wasn’t his wedding cake. Besides, the party wasn’t over yet, and Roach loved parties.
Concerned, Fang decided to go looking for Roach, and found him exactly where he had expected: in the galley. He hadn’t expected, however, to find him curled up in the corner, holding the wedding cake tightly in his arms.
“Roach?” Fang asked, surprised. “What’re you doing here?”
Roach startled and nearly dropped the cake. “You almost gave me a heart attack, man! What are you doing here?”
“Looking for you.” Fang sat down next to him and looked him over. “Why aren’t you celebrating with us?” His gaze fell on the cake in Roach’s arms. “And, er, why did you steal Stede and Ed’s wedding cake?”
“Steal?!” Roach gasped. “I didn’t steal it, I’m the one who made it!”
“But you made it for—” Fang stopped, noticing how tightly Roach was clutching the cake, as if Fang was going to snatch it away from him at any moment. “Alright. But why are you hiding down here? You promised me a dance!”
“Sorry,” Roach said, suddenly so quiet that Fang almost didn’t hear him, and Fang immediately felt guilty.
“Hey, no, don't be sorry, we can dance later!” He placed one of his hands over Roach's, desperate to make his friend feel better somehow. “What's going on?”
Roach stayed quiet, and Fang didn't really expect to get an answer anymore, when Roach muttered: “It's not fair.”
“Huh?” Fang didn't understand. Had he missed something? “What's not fair?”
“All of this!” Roach gestured vaguely upwards to where the party was still going on. “The captains get their perfect romantic wedding and their perfect domestic life and sail happily into the sunset together - and that's not even a figure of speech, they literally do that! And it's not just them, either! Lucius and Pete keep making their marriage everyone's problem, Olu, Jim, Archie and Zheng have three partners each, and Buttons is in love with the fucking sea! And what do I have? No, I at least get the cake. I'm keeping it.“
Fang stared at him open-mouthed. How had he never realized that Roach was so unhappy about his friends’ relationships?
“So,” he asked cautiously, “you're sad that you don't have a partner?”
“No!” Roach answered to Fang's confusion. “That's the problem! I love love, I really do, but I don't want a relationship, or a wedding, or any of that romantic stuff!”
“What?” Fang asked before he could stop himself. That didn’t make any sense.
Roach dropped his head into his hands. “Why don't I want that?” he asked softly. ”I want to want that, but I just… don't. Is there something wrong with me?”
He looked up at Fang, his big brown eyes wide and uncertain, and Fang couldn't help himself - he just had to hug him.
“No, nothing wrong with you,” he decided. “You're perfect just the way you are.”
Roach made a surprised, squeaky little noise, and Fang loosened his hold a little. “Am I crushing you?”
Roach just shook his head and snuggled closer to Fang. “You're really sweet, do you know that?” he muttered after a while.
Fang blushed. “Aww, you're just being nice.”
“No, really,” Roach pulled back to look at him properly. “Sometimes I worry that everyone is going to fall in love and leave me behind, you know? But you went looking for me, even though you'd probably rather be up there with the others.”
“I–” Fang started, but Roach shushed him.
“That's what I actually want. Not a crush or a partner, but a really great friend. Someone who cares about me. Like you.”
Fang beamed at him. “Now you're the sweet one.”
Roach laughed and leaned against Fang, but after a few moments, his face fell a little.
“I should probably give that cake back though, huh?” he asked sheepishly.
“Nah,” Fang said immediately and got up to get two spoons from the kitchen, “you were right. The captains already have each other. Least they can do is let us have the yummy cake you made.”
He handed Roach one of the spoons and placed the cake between the two of them. “I bet we can't finish the whole cake before someone comes looking for us.”
Roach dropped his spoon, digging into the cake with his bare hands instead, and laughed at the horrified look on Fang's face. “Oh, you're on.”