Behind Closed Doors ✔️

50

Fernanda's name lights up my phone just as I was about to go downstairs and have some dinner. I frown, knowing that she's currently at Antony's wedding. I was doing so well with distracting myself up until this moment. I even played a board game with my family. I answered the call, hesitantly pressing the phone to my ear. "Hello-"

"Theo, I hate to ask you this, but I need you to come to the wedding hall." Fernanda speaks frantically, and my eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Antony, he's not... he's not leaving the backroom. I don't know what to do- couldn't you come over and, I don't know, tell him that you're alright with him getting married?" She asked, and I blinked at the wall opposite me. "Theo? My dad is already pissed and he'll kill Antony if he doesn't come out. Please. I hate to ask you this-"

"Fine." I gulped, nodding my head. Truly, I didn't want to do this at all. Going to Antony's wedding and seeing him get married was not on the agenda for today. I thought I could avoid it and deal with it when the time came, but it seems like the time is right now. "I'm on my way." I told Fernanda, before hanging up.

I could hear my family laughing downstairs as Thomas was telling them a story about his day at University, so I took it as my opportunity to sneak down and out of the house. I slipped on my coat and snuck down the stairs, turning the corner and walking over to the front door. My family were still speaking, so I assumed they didn't hear me.

I grit my teeth as I slowly turned the key in the lock and carefully opened the door. As soon as I was out of the house, I didn't care if they heard me as I closed the door behind me and rushed off toward the hall that Antony was getting married at.

-

There was a door at the back of the hall that led to the room that Antony holed himself up in. I open the door and rush in, trying to get out of the choppy wind. Antony was standing in the middle of the room, a cigarette between his lips. As soon as he sees me, he freezes, his hands on his hips. I noticed that his black jacket was draped over a chair and his tie was discarded. The first few buttons of his white shirt were undone and I had to blink multiple times to stop myself from drooling.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion as he stuffed his spare hand into the pockets of the black slacks he wore. "I didn't know you were gonna be here." He tilted his head to the side, and I stepped closer to him.

"I wasn't gonna come, but your sister called me." I swallow the lump in my throat and tell him the words that I never thought I'd say to him. "You need to go out there, Antony. They're waiting for you."

Antony scoffs, shaking his head as he takes a drag of his cigarette. "I'm not doing it." He says, shrugging his shoulders. "I never wanted to marry the bitch, so I ain't." He adds, and I huff, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Antony, your dad is very pissed off, right now." I tell him, nodding my head. "For your own sake, go out there and marry her. You said it yourself, it's not a big deal. I hate that you have to do this, trust me, but he'll kill you."

"When is he not pissed off?" He scoffs once more,turning away from me. Just as I was about to step closer to him, the door to the backroom opens, and Antony's father is there. I realised that I held my breath out of sudden fear.

"Antony." His dad begins, his eyes flickering from his son to me and back again. I noticed the way his hands were fists by his side and his jaw was clenched. "Your wife is waiting for you, come on." He says, nodding his head in the direction behind him.

Antony's breath shook as he gave me one last look before grabbing his jacket and his tie, walking to the door and shoving past his father. Antony's dad's eyes fall onto me again, and I stand a little straighter. "Stay away from my son." He snapped, and my blood boiled and my fingers tingled.

"I hope this is all worth it." I retaliated, as he glared at me. He doesn't say anything back before he flips me off and walks away, the door banging to a close behind him.

My phone rings from inside my pocket, and I know I should have gone home, but part of me wanted to watch the man that had easily walked into my heart marry a woman. So, without second-guessing it, I opened the door and made my way to the hall.

I stayed at the double doors, not wanting to draw attention to myself. The hall was small, but it somehow fit the tens of guests that were present. Antony and Luciana stood at the front, facing each other. Antony towered over her, but he looked so uncomfortable being so close to a woman. Luciana was already reading her vows, and my jaw clenched.

Part of me had hoped that Antony didn't succumb to his father and had stayed in that room with me, but the other part of me, that part of me that thought with my brain and not my heart, knew that whatever Antony's dad would have done to him if he didn't marry this woman would have been too grave. It wouldn't have been worth the rebellion.

Then, it was time for Antony to read his vows. He got through most of it with a straight face, without any emotion in his voice and his eyes. "Do you, Antony Barbosa, take Luciana Dos Santos, as your lawfully wedded wife?" The priest had asked them, and I held my breath. This was it. The moment my whole life would be ripped out from underneath me.

Antony doesn't say anything. Instead, he lifts his eyes and looks around until his eyes meet mine. They waver a little. His jaw clenched and then... he stepped away from his fiance. I stand a little straighter, my eyebrows furrowing in confusion. He shakes his head a little, and Luciana lifts her hands to her chest, almost like she's hurt. "No." He says, loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Erm..." The priest blinks at him before his eyes move to Antony's father. "N-no?"

"No." Antony repeats, looking around the room. "I'm-" His jaw clenched. His gaze falls onto me once again and he's breathing so heavily, that even I can see it from the back of the room. Fear trickled through me and my hands are shaking by my side and I don't think I'm breathing. Antony looked so scared. He looked so nervous and this was his way of retaliating against his father, and I was so fucking proud of him. "I'm gay." He admitted.