Without You (gxg)

Part 44- Present Day

It was finally the day of Priya's wedding. I was very excited to be a bridesmaid- and also equally as excited to bring Noelle as my date.
Things had been super busy with work- and I was also realizing my date of moving in with Noelle was approaching fast. I was looking forward to it- but I was also nervous. How would this effect out relationship? Was it too soon? My answers in my head at first were always positively and no- but then my anxiety got in the way.
So it was going to be very nice to have this day of fun for the wedding. I had to go to the hotel- an extremely fancy hotel in Philly- very early in the morning to get ready with the bridal party- and do their hair with Tessa, who was coming along for that. Priya's maid of honor was her cousin, Minal, who was two years older. The bridesmaids were me, Gabrielle, Ashley, another girl she had met through college who she was now in pharmacy school with named Kiana, and another one of her cousins who was younger named Binita. I didn't really want to see Ashley after how she flirted with Noelle at the engagement party so blatantly in front of me- but I was going to suck it up for Priya.
Us bridesmaids were wearing red dresses embellished in gold- they were absolutely gorgeous. I waited to change into my dress, because I had to do everyone's hair. Tessa was going to take on Priya's hair and makeup as well as Minal, since they would take the longest. I was going to take on the rest of the girls. Tessa brought along another one of my co-workers at the salon, Marissa, to help with makeup.
I did Gabrielle, Kiana, and Binita's hair- and then I got to Ashley's. She had just dyed it from its brown to blonde balayage to a cherry red.
"Your hair looks amazing." I said, "I think red really suits you." I was flat ironing  her hair- she wanted it pin straight.
"You think so?" Ashley said, "That means a lot coming from you. I was worried you'd judge me since it's box dye."
"Never." I said, "Do you know how many times I have box dyed my hair before I started working at a salon? I get it salons are expensive."
"Maybe if I can save enough money I'll get my hair done by you." Ashley said.
"I could do an all over color for you for 70 dollars." I said, "I could get you to whatever shade of red you want."
"I want something a little lighter than this. And seventy is not bad. I'll make an appointment." Ashley said, and then said to me, "I wanted to apologize to you, Harley."
"What for?"
"Flirting with Noelle at Priya's engagement party. I didn't know you two were basically together at that point. I thought you were figuring things out and I maybe still had a chance. Anyway- it was very rude of me. So I wanted to say I'm really sorry." Ashley said, and I could tell she was nervous as she spoke.
"Hey, it's totally fine." I said, "I appreciate the apology. But don't worry about it."
I finished up on her hair, and then did mine. I made my hair very sleek and straight as well. Tessa finished up on Priya- who looked absolutely breathtaking. She looked like an absolute princess. Once of the prettiest women I had ever seen.
"I cannot even begun to describe how beautiful you look." I said to her.
"You look amazing too!" Priya said, and gave me a hug.
I couldn't quite believe she was getting married. Priya was a wild child in high school, but Raj seemed to be a great balance between keeping her calm, but still being the life of the party with her.
I was going to be walked down the aisle by one of Raj's groomsmen- but I just knew I would be looking out for Noelle in the rows of guests. She was going to be coming with Josh and Olivia- Priya wanted to invite Olivia, and Josh of course was her date.
The ceremony was really nice. I caught Noelle's eye multiple times during it, and I thought about if one day that would be us, getting married. I knew I didn't want a big wedding though- I just wanted something very small. And I thought Noelle would probably feel the same.
The reception was wild- much more wild than the formal ceremony. Indian music was playing, there was more food than I could even imagine, and Priya and Raj's family were dancing like there was tomorrow.
It was a sober wedding- no alcohol- which was  something I was grateful for. I didn't want Noelle drinking a lot. I just wanted to enjoy my time there with her.
Noelle was not really one for dresses- she wore a nice black button up tucked into gray pants- and she wore black heels with it. She wore her glasses and I had straightened her hair the night before. She looked beautiful. And I felt lucky to be beside her.
As the night went on, Noelle wanted to go outside for a moment to smoke. Something she still did- that I wished she didn't.
There was a gorgeous courtyard behind the hotel. It was lit up with fairy lights- and there was a gazebo there was well.
"Can we go sit under the gazebo for a little bit?" I asked her, "Spend some time here just the two of us? There's a lot of people in there." I said to her.
"I was going to suggest the same thing." she said, and we walked over together and sat in it, underneath the stars.
We sat in comfortable silence for a moment. Finally Noelle said, "I'm really glad I was able to come to this wedding with you. You know- when I first met Priya when we were seventeen, I would've never guessed she would be getting married when she was twenty three."
"Honestly same. But I think Raj brings her a sense of peace she's never had. She feels like she can be her true self around him." I said.
"I know the feeling." Noelle gave me a small smile.
"You bring me that feeling." I said, "You always have."
Noelle looked down for a moment, and then she looked at me. "We should get married." she said to me.
I was in shock for a moment. "Are you proposing to me at a wedding?" I joked, "Isnt that against the rules to do that?"
Noelle laughed, "It's just the two of us right now. And it's a bit more informal than I ever wanted to do. But seriously, will you marry me? Even if it's far off from now. I'll get you a ring and everything, of course."
"I don't care about a ring. Of course I'll marry you." I said to Noelle, "I love this informal proposal. Feels fitting for us."
"I'm sorry if it seems fast. But it's not like we've only been back together for the 6 months since we reconnected. I've know this fact- that I wanted to marry you- since we were seventeen." Noelle said.
"Just took a little while to get there." I smiled at her.
"Yeah." she grinned back at me.
"So does this mean I can start calling you my fiancé?" I said to her.
"I'd like that." Noelle said, "We just can't tell Priya we technically got engaged at her wedding."
"She would throw a fit that it was on her big day." I laughed.
"But we will know. It'll be our secret." Noelle said, "And I do promise- I'll get you a ring."
"Like I said- I don't even care about that. All that matters it that I know we have this commitment."
I said.
"We absolutely do. And one day- whenever we see it- I will be committing to you for life at our wedding." Noelle said.
I can't wait.