this is set before the prologue.
"What are you doing here?" Stella asked when she answered Joel's apartment door. Austin, Stella's fiancé, was standing in the hallway. "You're supposed to be in England."
"I could ask you the same thing, Stells," Austin responded. "I'm here to talk to your— I came here to talk to Joel."
"He's not here," Stella answered. "He said he'll be right back, so if he knows you were coming over you can wait for him." Stella stepped aside letting Austin walk into Joel's apartment. "Does he know you're here?"
Austin nodded. "He invited me over." Stella looked surprised. "I know I haven't always been the most friendliest to him, but I know he's important to you. And I wanted to apologize before the wedding and before he walks you down the aisle."
"Hey Stella, I— oh, hey Austin."
"Did I come too early? You invited me over a couple days ago," Austin looked at Joel. Stella knew he was lying. "You said whenever I came back to the states, you'd like to talk? I messaged you a while ago."
"Right. I forgot, been a busy couple of days," Joel lied. "Let me just drop this to my room and—"
"Since you boys are busy, I'll just come back for the package," Stella interrupted.
"Oh, right! It's in the guest room," Joel responded. He set his journal down on the side table before making his way towards the bedroom. Stella followed behind him. "My mom sends you more packages than me."
"It's just some stuff I asked her to get for the wedding," Stella said. "I already paid her back, I just wouldn't have time to get these and she found them." Stella paused. "Joel? Do you know why Austin is here?"
"Surprise or not, I did invite him over awhile ago. Why?"
"Because I know when you two are lying. I—" Stella stopped. "Because in the years of my relationship with Austin, not once did you two talk by yourself. And it happens to be next week is my wedding and now you two are talking?"
"Stella, we're both adults. And you're important to the both of us," Joel said. "We're putting aside our differences for you now. It might be late, but at least we are now."
"Okay," Stella responded. "Tell your mom thanks again. I'll see you later."
Meanwhile, Austin knew he shouldn't have, but he did. Joel's journal fell from the table to the floor and a couple pages fell out. He picked up the first page and read for the first couple of lines.
Hey, Stella. Do you remember the first day we met? We met at the coffee shop across from where the auditions for the play that theatre club was putting on. You had an amazing smile on your face when you walked in with Naomi and Olivia.
Hearing footsteps, Austin shoved the letters in his jacket pocket and put the journal back on the table before Stella came back with a box and Joel behind her. Stella left after she gave Austin a kiss goodbye. Joel looked away, heartbroken.
"What are you doing here?" Joel asked when Stella left, and he was sure she was listening in on their conversation.
"Look, I know you're in love with Stella."
"I'm not," Joel defended himself.
"One of us is, and it's not me," Austin explained. "That sounds harsh, but I can't love Stella like you love her."
"Then why are you marrying her? So you can have an unhappy marriage? So one day you can leave her?"
"Her parents love me, and they want us to be together. I don't know. But Stella and I will never be happy married, and we're only doing this for her parents. It's not what we want."
"I don't care what you want," Joel stated.
"What about what you want? Look, I haven't been the nicest person to you, but I'm trying to be a nice guy now. You and Stella are made for each other. And she'll never be happy with me. You need to tell her how you feel."
"Why can't you tell her this?" Joel questioned.
"Because I already came to the conclusion that she'll be happy without me. And it needs to be her decision to end the relationship. Once you tell her how you feel, there's no choice between you or me."
"I can't do that. I'm sorry, Stella has real feelings for you. I'm not going to make her think she has a choice. She did have a choice and she chose you."
Austin sighed. "I understand. Just think about it."
—
Austin peeked in Stella's dressing room. It was empty, he was sure all the bridesmaids and Stella were in the makeup room. He snuck in and grabbed the letters that had fallen out of Joel's journal and set them on the vanity where Stella's stuff was.
"I'm sorry, but I can't break your heart," Austin whispered before leaving the dressing room. "You have to break mine."
———
idk if anyone wondered how the letters got there in the first place, me too. Lol.
Just kidding, but I wanted a surprise part to explain it because I don't think I let anyone know before.
