Chapter Fifteen

"Put the flowers over there. Over there!" Clarissa shouted. "Just a few more inches to the right!"

Clarissa and I had arrived at her wedding venue a few hours ago to start setting up for the big day. She'd also convinced a few of her family members to help out with the decorating, and they were currently spread all over the place as they quickly paced throughout the room.

As the family continued to work, putting together the final touches, I stood in the corner with a clipboard in my hand, marking off each bouquet as delivered, and each table as reserved. I was halfway through finalizing the seating arrangement when I heard annoyed voices.

I saw a woman in a bright yellow dress turn to look at Clarissa. "Well, I'm sorry, darling, but I went to school to be a veterinarian, not a florist."

"Oh, here we go again. Margaret, don't you ever get tired of telling everyone that you're a vet?" a man who stood beside her asked. "I swear, you even told the flight attendant while she was helping us with our bags."

"And what's wrong with a woman being proud of her accomplishments, Henry?"

"There's nothing wrong with being proud of your accomplishments, but if you keep saying stuff like that out loud, it sounds like you're bragging," Henry replied. "I mean, hell, I'm a surgeon and I barely talk about it--"

"Ha! You talked about it with that bartender last night!"

"That's because he asked me what I do for a living, and I told him that what I do is save lives."

"And that's not bragging?" Margaret scoffed. "Why don't you just tattoo World's Number One Best Surgeon on your forehead?"

"Because I'm humble, Margaret! That's why!"

"Aunt Margaret, Uncle Henry," Clarissa interrupted their discussion. "I love you both--"

"And we love you, too, sweet pea." Margaret smiled.

"Okay, well, if you love me, could you maybe just... focus on putting the flowers on the right corner of the table? And then, you can get back to your argument later?"

"We weren't arguing! Who said we were arguing?" Henry chuckled. "You know that's just how we talk to each other."

"And after twenty-five years of marriage, that's how you and Trent will talk to each other, too." Margaret chuckled along with her husband. "Besides, communication is the secret to any long-term relationship."

"Trust your aunt when it comes to the marriage stuff, Clarissa, she's a very smart woman," Henry suggested with a sense of pride in his tone. "She was top of her class at veterinary school."

"Oh, you." Margaret smiled again before she kissed her husband on the cheek.

Clarissa rolled her eyes and took the flowers out of her aunt's hand, placing them on the right side of the table.

"Confusing, right?" Sky said as he suddenly appeared next to me. "Henry and Margaret? Their whole relationship?"

"Very," I admitted. "Did they say they've been married twenty-five years?"

"Yep."

"And have they been like that the whole time?"

"They've been like that ever since I've known them, so pretty much." He laughed. "They're good people, though. They're just really..."

"Dysfunctional?"

"I don't know if I'd call twenty-five years dysfunctional..."

"You wouldn't, but I definitely would," I replied.

"I'll just have to take your word for it, then." Sky beamed at me.

I beamed back at him, my heart speeding up in my chest as I noticed the way his eyes glistened from the way the sunlight was spilling into the room.

Sky was beautiful.

I'd known he was beautiful from the first day we'd met, but lately it was like I couldn't look away from him, wanting to take in as much of him as I could.

But then, I remembered where we were, and I broke off our eye contact before I hastily glanced around the venue.

I let out a sigh of relief when it seemed like no one had seen the way Sky and I had looked at each other. I was worried that the connection between us was going to be too obvious, too hard to hide, and I didn't want to jeopardize Sky's chances of coming out on his own terms.

Even though a part of me was hoping that he would hop up on the venue's stage right now, just like he had at Neon City, and kiss me in front of the whole room. I wanted him to be comfortable claiming me around his family and friends, too, not just at a bar filled with mostly strangers.

And I wanted a label.

I didn't know what label, exactly, since Sky and I had never broached that topic before. But I knew that I wanted him to admit that I meant something, anything to him, outside of being a hookup buddy or a friend-with-benefits. I didn't know how much longer I was supposed to wait on him to bring it up himself, but it was getting harder for me to pretend like I was a fountain of patience.

"Sky! My darling!" Margaret came up to him, pulling him in for a hug. "I haven't seen you in ages! Not since Trent's graduation."

"That was only a few months ago, Aunt Margaret." Sky laughed.

"Ah, you know your aunt. A few months is forever to her," Henry said as he patted Sky on the shoulder. "And can you believe it? First the boy finishes grad school in record time, and now he's about to get married? Must be a whirlwind!"

"Who says it's a whirlwind? When you're ready, you're ready," Margaret remarked with a wave of her hand. "Speaking of being ready... when do you think you'll be ready, Sky? Not to say that you need to rush into anything, but what happened to that nice Irene girl?"

"We like Irene. Everyone likes Irene." Henry nodded. "You should call her up. See what she's up to."

"You two sound like you've been talking to my dad," Sky joked.

"Only a little bit." Margaret grinned and then looked over in my direction. "Oh! I'm so sorry. I didn't see you standing there." She nudged Sky in the arm as she asked, "Aren't you going to introduce us to this nice young man?"

"Yeah. Of course," he replied. "Aunt Margaret. Uncle Henry. This is Raven. He's the wedding planner."

"It's very nice to meet both of you," I said as I offered the couple one of my most convincing fake smiles.

The wedding planner.

No more. No less.

Sky had just given me a label, whether he knew it or not. And I was trying my best not to let my expression show how hurt I was, even though it felt like an impossible task.

When I could tell that I was on the verge of cracking, I realized that I had to make a move. "Will you two excuse me for a bit? I need to check on something for the ceremony."

"Of course, dear," Margaret said.

"A busy man is a good man," Henry chimed in.

I walked away from the conversation with the sting of fresh tears burning behind my eyes.

* * *

I didn't know how long I'd been in the bathroom stall.

I didn't know how long I'd been crying, either.

But I was sitting cross-legged on a closed toilet lid, feeling thankful for the moment of solitude.

I knew that eventually I was going to get myself together, go back out there, and probably end up having an hour-long conversation with Clarissa about some miniscule, wedding-related detail, but for now, I wanted to be alone for a little while longer.

Of course, because I never truly got what I wanted, I was soon joined in the bathroom by what sounded like three men, all talking and laughing as they made their way inside.

"Yo! This wedding is gonna be huge!" a voice I recognized as Eddie's exclaimed. "And did you see how many places are set for bridesmaids?"

"Eddie, what did I tell you about trying to hook up with a bridesmaid?" It was Trent's voice; one I hadn't heard in a long time. Ever since Clarissa had begun planning their wedding, I'd mostly been spending time with her, one-on-one.

I didn't mind hanging out with Trent, though. He seemed like a good guy, and he was definitely Clarissa's soulmate. I knew he was the one for her when he surprised her on her birthday with a trip to Vegas, which included front row seats to see one of her favorite bands.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Eddie scoffed. "It's easy for you to talk about not hooking up with anyone. You'll be hooking up with the same woman for the rest of your life! Your hooking up days are gone."

"To be fair, Trent didn't have a lot of hooking up days to begin with," the third voice -- Sky's voice -- suggested.

Eddie broke out into a laugh. "Ha! Burn!"

"Yeah? Well, I heard that you've been having a good time hooking up with someone new yourself," Trent said. "Are you going to tell us who it is? Or do we have to figure it out on our own?"

"Who told you I've been hooking up with someone?" Sky asked.

"I don't know. Clarissa mentioned something about her friend Raven? I know she has a guy friend named Raven, but for all I know, she has a new girl in her friend group named Raven, too." Trent paused for a second or two. "Unless... you're hooking up with a guy? Which would be totally fine. And kind of funny because Clarissa was just saying how she wanted to make more gay friends--"

"Raven and I are just friends," Sky said, cutting Trent off mid-sentence.

"I dunno, man. Clarissa made it sound like there was something serious going on."

"What? There's nothing going on." Sky chuckled. "I think that might just be some wishful thinking on her part."

"And on Raven's part, too," Eddie murmured. "I told you, man. That guy has a crush on you. You need to nip that in the bud before it gets any worse."

"I'm working on it," Sky murmured back before I heard him turning on the sink.

The guys talked a little more as their conversation shifted from memories of college, to spending late nights in high school hanging out in drive-thru parking lots, and finally to how proud Sky and Eddie were of Trent for managing to convince a keeper like Clarissa to marry him.

When the conversation died down, they left the bathroom, one right after the other.

And then, I finally left the bathroom, too.