Chapter 16: 15: Roller Skating

CHAPTER FIFTEEN: ROLLER SKATING

June 14th, 2020

Gemma was stocking shelves at Target when a familiar voice called her name. A voice she hadn't heard since the party. A voice she did not plan on hearing for awhile, unless it was for wedding business.

She turned around to see Wesley walking towards her. Last time Gemma talked to Wesley, she was heavily intoxicated. She didn't remember much from the party after she went outside by the bonfire. Gemma sat next to Marcie and an empty chair, and she kept taking shots upon shots. Her memories were scattered, though she did remember running into Rowan when she went into the house to use the bathroom. She quickly walked past him, despite him calling her name.

Other than that, the next thing she remembered was waking up on the living room couch of the Airbnb, completely hungover. As soon as Marcie woke up twenty minutes later, also hungover, the two left -- without saying goodbye to anyone.

"I didn't know you worked here," Wesley said once he caught up to Gemma.

"Yeah," Gemma didn't make eye contact as she continued stocking baby formula on the shelves. "Needed something to pay the bills back in New York while I stay here."

"Ah," Wesley nodded. "Well I'm glad I ran into you. Are you busy tonight?"

"Depends,"

"The whole wedding party is going roller skating. It was a last minute decision; Avery said some shit about wanting to relive her childhood memories, before getting married. Thought it was dumb, but figured why not go and have fun. Did Avery tell you about it?"

Gemma shook her head no. "I don't even have Avery's number. But I don't know, Wes. I don't feel like hanging out with Avery's devil bridesmaids, especially since Marcie is working tonight so she wouldn't be able to tag along for moral support."

Wesley rolled his eyes and laughed at Gemma's nervousness. "You'll be fine, Gems. I'll be there. We're friends, right?"

Gemma sighed. He was right, it wouldn't be so bad since she wouldn't be technically alone. Gemma considered Wesley one of her best friends when she and Rowan dated. When they broke up, she missed that friendship. Aside from her siblings and Row, Wesley was one of the only people who truly knew and cared about Gemma.

"Yeah," Gemma attempted to smile, finally making eye contact.

"Come on, Gemma." Wesley begged. "I've missed hanging out with you. I don't think it's a coincidence that you're suddenly in Rowan's life again."

By the way those words left Wesley's mouth, Gemma felt a strange feeling that she could not quite pinpoint. But, it convinced her to agree, despite feeling slightly uncomfortable about being around Avery's friends without Marcie present.

"Fine," she gave in. "I'll go."

-

Gemma felt slightly uncomfortable as she approached the roller skating rink. She hadn't been skating since she and Rowan first started dating, and knew damn well that she was likely going to fall on her ass if she didn't stick to the wall the entire time.

It didn't take long to spot the wedding party as soon as she walked into the building. She locked eyes with Miranda when approaching the counter to pay, who rolled her eyes in response.

This was going to be a long night.

"Gemma!" Avery walked over towards Gemma, who looked confused to see her. "How'd you know we'd be here? I totally would've invited you, which reminds me! I need your number."

"Wes told me,"

"Oh, perfect! Here, type your number into my phone."

Gemma hesitated before grabbing Avery's phone and putting her contact information in. Gemma's phone number never changed, which showed her that Avery did in fact delete Gems' number all those years ago. This wasn't news to Gemma by any means; it just solidified the fact that Avery had all intentions of dropping her best friend when she met her new, sorority friends.

She handed the phone back to Avery, who in turn, walked away and back to the rest of the wedding party. Gemma quickly paid and received her skates, ready to get this over with.

While Avery, Miranda, and Peyton skated on the dimly lit rink, Gemma sat down to put her skates on. Wesley was no where in sight. She figured he was not here yet.

"When did you get here?" the familiar voice of Rowan Taylor spoke as he approached Gemma, who was struggling to put her skates on. She looked up at him, suddenly feeling nervous as this was going to be only the second conversation they'd had since almost every time they spoke before, Gemma was under the influence of some sort.

"A few minutes ago. Your brother invited me."

"You talked to Wes?" Rowan asked, his eyebrows knitting together in confusion.

"I ran into him at work,"

"Oh," was all Rowan said. "You have a job?"

"Working at Target for the time being," Gemma explained, wishing this awkward conversation would come to an end. And thankfully it did, as Wesley walked into the building.

"You made it!" Wes yelled once he was finished paying and receiving his skates.

Rowan cleared his throat, though it sounded more like a cough. "I should get out there,"

"Yup," Wes agreed. "Don't wanna keep the bridezilla waiting."

It took everything for Gemma not to let out a laugh in that moment. Rowan just rolled his eyes at his brother's remark, though before he walked away, he noticed Gemma struggling with the laces on her roller skates.

"Need some help?" he asked, though before Gemma could say no, I got it, Rowan bent down and helped her anyways.

She felt her breathing practically stop for a moment as Rowan was kneeling close to her. She kept her eyes on him the entire time, feeling strange that he was doing this when his fiancée was only a few feet away, but she didn't stop him. He clearly was not going to take no for an answer. Gemma hoped that Avery didn't see, but then again even if she did, what's the harm? Rowan was only helping.

"When was the last time you came here?" Rowan asked, though immediately regretted it -- since he likely knew the answer.

"Uh, with you."

"Well, try not to fall on your ass then," Rowan chuckled and walked away, before Gemma had the chance to respond.

"That was kinda intense," Wes laughed.

"Tell me about it," Gemma sighed. She kept her eyes glued to Rowan as he walked away, looking away when he skated up to Avery and hugged her from behind. "Let's get out there."

-♥♥♥

It didn't take long for Gemma to completely wipe out as soon as she entered the skating rink. She stayed glued to the wall, despite Wesley trying to pull her away from it. She watched in embarrassment as the rest of the wedding party skated with ease. They all made it look so easy. Except Jonah, Rowan's childhood friend and other groomsman, who seemed to be having the same issue as Gemma. He, unlike Gemma, didn't know how to skate, but was at least trying instead of sticking to the wall the entire time like a scared little child.

"Come on," Wes laughed. "You just have to keep trying!"

"I can't do this," she shook her head while holding on to the railing with a death grip. "How do you make it look so easy?"

"Because it is," Wes laughed. "Come on, take my hand."

Hesitantly, Gemma agreed. She tightly held onto his hand, hoping for dear life that he wouldn't drop her. Wes laughed as he skated them away from the wall, into the middle of the rink. Gemma was shaking with fear; her grip on Wesley's hand only tightening.

"You're gonna break my hand," he laughed, which caused Gemma to loosen her grip slightly. She still held on tight, with the fear that she was going to fall and break a part of her body.

Wes let go of Gemma's hand, letting her try to skate on her own. She froze, turning her head but not her body, because she was too scared to move.

"Why?" was all Gemma could muster out.

"Because you need to try this on your own. Hold your body up, and slowly move your feet as if you are walking. You'll get the hang of it!"

Somehow, Gemma managed to turn her body so she was now facing Wes. He grinned, giving her a thumbs up as a way to tell her you got this. Gemma did as told, though she didn't try to skate. Instead, she made her way back to the wall.

Wes rolled his eyes and laughed, determined to get Gemma out there so she didn't look like such a scared child.

"Gems, come on! You had it!"

"No, I didn't!" she called once she was safe and sound against the wall. Her hands repositioned themselves on the railing, where she immediately felt safe again. Miranda and Peyton skated past Gemma, eyeing her up and down with smirks covering their lips. Peyton laughed, which caused Gemma to sigh. They were definitely making fun of her.

Wes skated over towards Gemma with ease, noticing Miranda and Peyton's pettiness. "Ignore them," he held his middle finger up. "You're learning."

"Barely," Gemma mumbled.

"Here, I have an idea. Take my hand again."

"I don't trust you," Gemma laughed as she hesitantly laced her fingers with Wesley's.

"You'll be okay," Wes grinned, and before Gemma could respond, he pushed her out onto the middle of the rink. Gemma wasn't moving very fast, but it was fast enough to the point where she did not know how to stop herself.

"Wes!" she screamed, "What the fuck!"

"You got this!" he responded and clapped loudly. "Just turn your body!"

She tried to follow his instruction, but failed. Instead of turning her body, she just kept skating straight ahead. Not into the wall like she had hoped but instead, a person.

Gemma screamed. "Watch out!"

Rowan turned his head to see Gemma skating right towards him, though he didn't have time to move out of the way. It all happened so fast so instead of moving, he held his arms out to catch a terrified Gemma.

Not even a second passed, and Gemma was shaking in Rowan's arms, as he caught her from falling.

"You good?" Rowan laughed as he held tightly onto Gemma, considering she was one second away from falling on her ass.

She shook her head, which was pressed against his chest. In that moment, she realized what she had just done. Gemma could feel Miranda's eyes burning into her, given it looked like she and Rowan were hugging.

"No," Gemma gasped. "Take me to the wall."

Rowan pulled away from Gemma, but kept his hands on her shoulders to steady her. Before he could even move to the side to allow her to skate towards the railing, Avery and Miranda appeared at his side.

"What the hell is going on here?" Miranda angrily said, eyeing Gemma up and down with an annoyed look on her face.

"Chill, Miranda," Rowan rolled his eyes. "I wasn't just going to let her fall on her ass,"

"Maybe you should have." the maid of honor sarcastically laughed.

Avery sighed, skating in front of Miranda so she could no longer see Gemma or Rowan. "Miranda, that's enough. Maybe we should take a break now."

Without another word, Miranda skated away.

"You okay, Gemma?" Avery asked.

"Yeah, just bad at this." Gemma explained once she was safely against the wall again. She did not need to explain herself -- clearly running into Rowan like that was an accident. It appeared as if Avery could see that, but clearly her bitchy maid of honor read too much into it.

Before Avery could respond, Wes appeared in the picture. "My bad, Gemma. I wasn't expecting you to run straight into my brother."

"Never do that again," Gemma spoke sternly which in response, Wes threw his hands up in defense and laughed.

"Come on," I'll buy you some pizza at the concession stand to make up for it."

Gemma pondered for a moment before answering. "Deal," she said.

Wes reached his hand back out to her, which she gladly took because there was absolutely no way that she could exit the skate rink on her own. Wes led Gemma off the rink slowly and as soon as she found a bench, she took her skates off -- with no intention of putting them back on.

Rowan and Avery stood there, in the spot that Gemma and Wes has left them. Avery pulled on Rowan's hand to keep skating, but he just stood there.

He stood there, staring at Wes and Gemma's entwined hands as they skated off the rink.

♥♥♥

a/n: the only reason I wrote this chapter is because I literally went skating today and fell on my ass multiple times HAHA & I need some cutesy filler chapters to lead up to what's going to happen :))