The Boy Next Door

15.

It's finally the wedding day today.
Everything is in place and the evening has arrived. Everyone is decked up for the wedding mass at church. All of us drive to the church and enter the church hall before the Jane walks on the aisle.
Gabriel stands at the foot of the alter, tapping his kerchief on his forehead to wipe off the sweat. Julian as usual sits on the first bench and I sit behind him.
The benches of the church are taped with flowers and two freshly picked massive bouquets are placed down at the alter.
The bell of the church rings and the opening hymn is sung. Jane is seen to be walking with her mother on the right and her father on the left. As she reaches the foot of the alter, Jane's father takes her hand and places it in Gabriel's hand. The couple walk to their seats and the mass begins.
As the Gospel and sermon ends, the couple then exchange their rings and vows and sign the marital papers.
With the end of the mass, Gabriel and Jane are congratulated as newly weds and everyone is made to stand in for the group photograph. After a short break of refreshments, all of us make a move to the reception hall.

Julian and me are seated at the big dinning that is separated from the rest of the audience in the hall followed by my parents, Gabriel's family and his friends.
The newly weds are welcomed with a boom and a beautiful performance led by the bridesmaids and the best-men.
They danced on their first song, swaying and spreading love in the air as they smile into each other's eyes whispering the lyrics of the song to each other. As soon after their parents join the dance floor for the waltz, Julian offers me to dance.
The two of us walk up to the floor, with the lights dim and the music slow.
The two of us enjoyed the moment and didn't utter a word to each other further on. The whole danced we stared into each other's eyes, like we were conversing through them. Julian's hand didn't let go of my waist and mine didn't let go of his shoulder. He lead the dance throughout the night until the slow music ended. 
After the dance floor started playing pop songs, we sat back on our seats and Julian handed me a glass of wine. "I'll be right back okay?" He kisses my cheek and I nod.
"Hey my dear." my mother joins me.
"Hey mom." I say back. "Anything gone wrong, you don't sound well."
"I'm alright, I might just be slightly exhausted. I'm going for a walk, I think the noise is just too much for me."
I grab my glass and walk out of the hall.

Julian
I was surprised by meeting some of my old friends from college, neither did I know they had any contact with Jane.
"So what's your plan? What has the master being up to?" William says, taking a sip of his strong whiskey.
"Nothing much, working with dad's company hoping for a promotion someday maybe."
"You'll get it, don't worry. Focus on now."
Glen taps my shoulder and gives it a squeeze.
"Have you met anyone from our batch? I've heard everyone has moved on, it seems only the two of you remember me." Glenn continues.
"Do y'all by chance remember Amelia?"
I asked.
"Of course brother, she was like the highest ranker in college although she was very quiet but when she spoke, she spoke facts. She was so very bold."
William compliments to which I surprise them by saying, "Well, you see, that bold woman is my girlfriend." 
William almost tends to spit off his drink.
"WHAT?! But you and Amelia were like enemies, fighting, pulling each other's hair and tearing each other's books. What happened?"
Then I told them everything, the time she was at rock bottom, when I needed her, when she needed me, the neighbors to roommates, the fake to real relationship to everything. Both of them heard me in shock.
"Both of y'all outgrew the battle between the two of you. Where is she though? I haven't seen her."
I searched around the table and scanned the area with my eyes but I couldn't find her so I excused myself.
"Mom have you seen Amy anywhere?"
My mother says no.
I ask Jane, she had no idea either.
When I asked her mom, she said, "Son, Amelia is gone somewhere quiet, she told me that the noise is too overwhelming for her."
Amelia's mother didn't know where she went so I called her. I called Amelia and she didn't pick up. So I called her numerous times and not a single time did she pick up. Panic started to arrive in myself.
Where is she? Peace?
Peace? Where does Amelia go for peace?
A lake. But it's too late to go to a lake where else could she be?
A swimming pool?
I run down the stairs of the hotel that lead to the swimming pool and found her there....unconscious.
Her glass of wine was fallen on its side and Amelia just stayed there, without moving. She was unconscious.
With shaky hands I called the ambulance and she was taken to the ER.

Sitting in the waiting room, awaiting a response from the doctor, I rang Amy's parents. Within the span of minutes, they reached the hospital, waiting with me.

After what seemed like an hour, the doctor arrived from the room and walked to us, I stood first and asked and the doctor said, "She's okay, not a serious issue. A spiked drink led to this, but she's already. We'll keep her here for the night for any tests if required and she can be discharged tomorrow." The doctor walks off and Amelia's mother walks in her room.

"She's okay." I said, putting my heart to rest.

"She wants to meet you, Julian" Amy's mother said as she walked out of the room. "Thank you for bringing her here, we wouldn't have known about this, if it weren't you." she hugged me.

I walked myself in the room and there lied Amelia, with a resting face but still a little high as it may seem. I sat at the foot of her bed and her eyes opened. "Hey." I whispered, brushing my hand on hers. "You feel better?" I ask.

"Yes." She whispers back. "Thank you, Julian." She said and I gave her a small smile.

The nurse brought her tablets and gave her prescription to me, "Amelia, have these medicines 3 times a day for a week and you used to be alright. Make sure to be careful next time and always cover your drink while drinking." She smiles at the nurse.

I stayed with Amelia during the night and informed Jane about the situation and that's she's okay. The following morning Amelia was discharged from the hospital and I brought her back to the hotel to freshen up and put on a new pair of clothes. While she bathed, I packed her bags and dropped them off in the car trunk, both of us checked out of the hotel and bid my parents a goodbye for they wanted to await their stay. Jane and her husband dropped us to the reception, "Thank you so much for coming and celebrating with us, brother. Amelia, it was a pleasure to meet you and spend time with you." We bid them a goodbye and drive past. 

The drive back home was exhausting and entering home felt like home as a whole. Amelia attempted to go back to the guest house when I stopped her and said, "Since now, you are no longer a roommate of mine but an official member in the house, you can sleep with me, okay." I held her. "You think I didn't think that before? I'm just going to shift everything , your bed is our bed now."

She kisses me. I kiss her, we kiss in every corner of the house and when it came to the bed, we let ourselves lose control. 

She took in every inch of me, as I made her mine, made her my everything.  

I'd thank myself for staying back in town and refusing to move out when i met Amelia but the bully in me that time didn't know that the girl whom i annoyed could ever be the one of for me. Every time i stared at her in bed as she stared at me wondering what is going on in my brain, I kept thinking to myself, 'how did i get so lucky to have Amelia as my girlfriend, that even not a casual one but a genuine one? The way we understand each other and support each others right decisions when it came to everything?'

Amelia completes me and she has been too good to me in my life to ever mention it, she's brilliant in her own ways in her own spots and i love everything about her.  

My home is now ours, the place we share, laugh and especially love. 

The End.