Never Summer Again

Epilogue

Lydia

Score: Bittersweet Symphony - The Verve

Three years later...

My shoes have been killing me for at least two hours, but I can't even do anything about it. I've been pacing from one room to another all day, trying to calm people's nerves down, and I've been dancing ever since the dancefloor opened because I promised I'd do it. It doesn't really help that it's scorching hot, and the wedding's out in the open.

"OK, I get that your ass looks spectacular in that dress, but can you please stop shoving it in my face?" I scold the bride, who's dancing in her groom's arms, with her back turned to me.

"Hey, watch it! That's my wife you're talking to!" Patrick says, and his face emerges from around his wife's back with a wicked smile on it.

Patrick's wife. A long time ago, I thought I'd be in that position. I'd felt apprehensive and scared about it. I'd been so afraid not to end up as Patrick's wife, that I ended up hurting everyone in the end...

It was never my attention to hurt him. I just didn't believe in fate back then. I believed in doing what I wanted, what made me feel better, in light of how awful my life had been back then.

But never, in a million years, have I imagined I'd be Patrick Caterly's wife's bridesmaid. Never. In. A. Million. Years.

Yet, here we are.

I don't know if it's our mutual love for tattoos, our rebellious tendencies, or our shared toxic trait of not trusting people, but Catherine and I instantly clicked. Yes, I admit it was awkward in the beginning, with our history with Patrick, and all of the things that had been left unspoken among our circle of friends that summer three years ago, but it quickly became clear that Catherine was here to stay, and actually, it was thanks to her and Liam, for totally different reasons, that Patrick got back into our circle.

It's not easy to get behind her walls and behind her bubbly, cheerful facade, which she does a great job of keeping up for everyone, but, once she lets you in, you get to discover how much her genuine smile really means, how soft and tender she is behind her badass appearance and sometimes hardcore drinking.

Realizing this, when I finally got the privilege of knowing her, like, the real her, made me see how much we had in common, and I couldn't help but wonder whether Patrick has a type. Like, a thing for emotionally unavailable, guarded chicks, who just love to act out.

One will never truly know, I guess.

Oh, did I mention that Catherine is a marquise, as well? Jackpot for Theodora, I guess. When I saw Theo's sapphire, sparkling on Catherine's hand, I instantly knew Theodora's visit to Alex's three years ago was, of course, only a show...

Of course.

Seems like the ring is good enough for a marquise, even a young and rebellious one, whose hair is half-shaved now and who has a nose hoop, and even though it's not a brand-new, more modern one...

And, somehow, without even realizing it, I found myself playing a supporting role in a story that once held a different narrative—a story where, for once, I'm not the main character.

And I'm absolutely loving it.

"I really need to sit down, my feet are killing me," I tell Liam, whom I've been dancing with for the past two songs. He smiles and lets go of me, and I stagger out of the dancefloor and toward my table. Never leaving bridesmaid duty, I take a look around to see if anyone needs anything on my way.