Gray Area (sequel to White Noise)

Ch 23 - Won't Be Long

I managed to avoid Michael for the rest of the day, and I completely ignored his calls and texts all night. But it was time for the rehearsal dinner, and there would be no avoiding him there. Needless to say, I wasn't looking forward to it.

"Alexis," Tori groaned for the third time. "You're going to make me late for my own rehearsal!"

"You go on without me," I told her, flopping back down onto the bed. "I'll meet you there."

"Yeah, okay. I don't believe that for a second."

"I can't face him, Tori," I sighed, turning my head to look at her pleadingly. "It's going to be so damn awkward. I can't do it."

"Well, you have to, so suck it up." It was obvious that I would be getting no sympathy from her. I mumbled a few not so nice things as I stood up and slid on my shoes. Tori practically pushed me out the door then, and we made our way to her room to pick up Calum and Avery.

Tori and Cal were conveniently having their wedding in the courtyard of the fancy hotel we were staying at, so I'm not sure why she was grumbling about being late. As we all stood and waited for the elevator to take us down, Calum shifted Avery in his arms before casting a side glance towards me.

"So, Lex," he started casually. "Anything interesting happen lately?"

I completely ignored his question and shot a glare towards my friend. "You told him."

"No! I swear I didn't!"

"Cut her some slack," Calum interrupted. "It wasn't her. Michael's my best friend. You should have known he'd fill me in."

"I don't want to talk about it," I groaned. Where was the damn elevator?

"That's fine. You should know, though. He's pretty worked up about the whole thing."

Great. Just what I wanted to hear. "I don't want to talk about it." Finally the stupid elevator arrived, and I practically jumped inside. I was so ready for the night to be over with, and it had barely begun.

When we made our way to the ceremony spot, Tori and Cal left my side to make their rounds, saying hi to everyone. I stepped away from the crowd a bit, trying to blend in to my surroundings. It wasn't long, though, until my self wallowing was interrupted by a voice behind me.

"Hey, you." I immediately relaxed at the sound of his voice.

"Hey, Luke."

He gave my shoulder a little nudge with his own before pulling me into a tight hug. When he pulled back, he had a slightly concerned look on his face. "You alright?"

"Yeah," I told him. "I'm great. Never been better."

"You sure?"

"Of course. Why wouldn't I be?" He gave me a knowing look, and I let out a deep sigh, hunching my shoulders in defeat. "Fuck. Does everyone know?"

"Michael's got a big mouth. You knew this already." I didn't respond, just leaned back into his chest, wrapping my arms around him. "It's gonna be alright, Lex," he told me soothingly, holding me tightly again.

"I don't think so," I answered, fighting to keep my voice steady. "I really fucked everything up."

"How so? There's always been a weird chemistry between you two. How does acting on it fuck everything up?"

"Because I ruined our friendship! Nothing will ever be the same between us after this."

"Maybe that's a good thing," he told me with a shrug. I didn't have time to think about his comment before we were called over to start the rehearsal.

I managed to hide at the back of the crowd as the wedding planner gave us our instructions. But my heart dropped into my stomach when she told us to start pairing off for the run through. I was the maid of honor, and with Michael being the best man, well, I could no longer avoid him.

I kept my head down as he made his way towards me. When he finally reach my side, I wanted to curl up and die.

"Hey," he greeted.

"Hey."

We stood in awkward silence for a few minutes as everyone else got into position.

"Can we talk?" he asked nervously, and I felt even worse. "We need to talk about what happened, Alexis."

"No, we don't," I cut him off. "It was no big deal. Just forget about it."

"I don't want to forget about it, Alexis."

"Hush, Michael. We're up."

He opened his mouth to argue again but was quickly shut down by the wedding planner hurrying the first members of the wedding party down the aisle. We waited in silence until it was finally our turn. It's safe to say that was probably the longest walk of my life. When we finally reached the end and were forced to separate, I let out a deep breath that I didn't even know I was holding. I could feel his eyes watching me from his spot across from me, but I completely ignored him, intently staring down the aisle waiting for Tori to make her entrance. I put on a smile, but all I wanted to do was cry again.

The rest of the rehearsal went off without a hitch, and the group of us made our way inside the hotel's ballroom to enjoy dinner. I quickly scanned the area before planting myself right between two of Calum's cousins at the far end of the room. Luke and Ashton shot me a couple of questioning glances as they took their seats near Tori and Calum, but I pretended not to see them.

I stayed as long as I possibly could, not eating a bite, before making my way towards Tori to let her know I was heading back up to my room.

"I'll come find you in a bit," she told me, standing to give me a hug. "Cal's taking Avery and staying at his parents' tonight. Who would have thought he was one for tradition right?" She laughed before continuing. "Anyway, I'll come to your room and crash with you. We can have a sleepover, just like old times."

"That sounds perfect, actually," I told her with my first genuine smile of the night. "I'll see you in a little bit, Mrs. Hood."

"Not yet," she giggled. "Won't be long now, though."

"Won't be long at all." I gave her another squeeze before heading out of the ballroom. Once again, I pretended not to notice the sets of curious eyes following me out of the room. I just held my head up high and kept walking until it was safe to let my tears flow.