Three's a crowd

50

The days came quickly after Carl was gone. I felt like I could finally breathe again, like I could truly enjoy every aspect of my life, of myself.

Riley had helped a lot after and once Allie and Luke were back from the hospital with tiny Bella in tow we had moved back onto my house.

Perhaps having a small baby was a distraction. Still it was a breath of fresh air holding her tiny body while she cooed or when she slept. Riley would always smile at me when I held her and now she was almost a month old.

Riley had also fixed my relationship with Kyle. After they had a talk and got on even ground, Kyle apologized and we were back to old times. No more awkwardness.

Apparently he had a form of disability, where he couldn't always control himself or his actions, like his body reacted without his mind. But either way it wasn't for me to judge and I liked being able to talk to him again.

Regardless we had finally made it to prom night. Me, Ava and Jessica got ready in my room with Averleigh and Avas mom. They were in charge of hair and makeup.

Averleigh put my hair in some intricate bun with curls hanging all around, boasting all the highlights surrounding my strawberry blonde hair. She completed my look with a light Smokey eye with a touch of purple to match my dress, before she left with Avas mom to check on the boys while we put on our dresses.

Once we were all dressed we each took turns walking downstairs to our dates. Jessica went down first kissing Gabe sweetly as Averleigh snapped a variety of pictures. 

Next was Ava as she calmly walked down the stairs to Brett. I could hear him tell her she "looked nice!" As Riley groaned at his subpar compliment.

After a few more seconds I slipped on my black heels and turned the corner to decend the stairs. I wanted to look at Riley, to watch his expression, but I knew we wouldn't get far if I fell to my death on the stairs.

I kept my eyes down as I walked down each step, until a hand appeared in front of me. I smiled and took it as Riley helped me down the last few steps.

"Your look so stunning Britt! I love you so much!" He smiled with a gleam of moisture in his eye.

"I love you more!" I smiled.

"Okay, we need a group picture and then you can go." Averleigh smiled holding up her camera.

"Wait! Don't forget us" Kyles voice came from somewhere behind us as he walked in with a blonde from chemistry, Sierra. She was a quiet girl, long luscious hair that she had curled for prom. She was gorgeous in her emerald dress as they stood beside Jessica and Gabe.

We all smiled for a couple of pictures before climbing into our assigned vehicles for the drive to the exquisite hotel that Spencer had booked for our prom. The school gym was being remodeled and I think he felt bad for us since we had been looking forward to it all year.

I took a glance at Riley as he drove to the hotel. The street lights were dancing over his face while the soft humming of a country song played in the background. He looked good, really good.

His suit was fitting in all the right places, hugging his muscular frame. It was hard to believe that he was mine, that he loved me and continued to love me even with all the drama with Carl. Of course that's why we even started dating in the first place.

Still I wouldn't blame him if he never wanted to see me again. I had been less than fair to him before his wreck. It was true that I didn't deserve him, even though he constantly told me that I did.

When we arrived and he helped me out of the truck I felt ever more lucky to be by his side. The lobby was exquisite, marble columns and a fountain in the middle of the lobby before the desk.