It's the summer break, and for the first time in his life, Mike would rather stay in the bloody classroom.<br><br>It's wedding season, and Mike is doomed to spend all summer sipping cheap champagne and pretending he likes tiny portions of posh food. From the passive-aggressive torment of Mike's mother-in-law to the insulting incredulity of his colleagues over what his mysterious husband actually looks like, Mike would voluntarily teach sex education to fourteen-year-olds for the rest of his life if it would only get him out of one more wedding. Even his husband in a kilt isn't going to save this one.<br><br>But there's nothing like watching someone else get hitched to remind him of where he's come from ... and where he's determined to go from here.

Married Ones

Thankfully it was a big wedding. Both Amy and Darren were popular, in different circles, and Mike had plenty of people to talk to. He found himself soon embroiled in a United versus Wednesday argument—which Mike, thinking both teams were shit, could referee with ease—and was persuaded out onto the dance floor with one of his lab assistants for a terrible, lively waltz before his phone beepedagain.


“Sorry, Lizzie, husband calls,” Mike said.


“Will he dance with me?” she asked, refusing to let go of his hands.


“Go and get him then,” she said imperiously, releasing him.


Mike mentally prepared his apology, and wormed his way out of the throng. The corridor was quiet. The stairs were empty. The lone attendant at the entrance was reading a magazine, headphones in, and merelywaved cheerily at Mike as he headed out of the building.


Chapter 17