repressed love | ben hargreeves

14

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CHAPTER FOURTEEN

"Okay, meet in Sloane's room in five." I spoke to Lila, both of us splitting up to do a little something for her before she got married. The wedding was in an hour, but that doesn't mean we couldn't do something. I saw Ben walking out of her room, he seemed upset, but it was hard to tell these days. "What's wrong?" I asked as he passed me.

"Why do you assume something is wrong?" He snapped back.

"Are you going to be like this all night?" I asked, letting out a sigh of defeat. "Listen. I know my brothers didn't invite you to the bachelorette party, they can be douchebags sometimes."

"Most of the time." He corrected me.

"Not the point. You can keep up your emo boy facade all you want, but I know there's a part of you that cares about your sister." I began. Before he could begin protesting, I put a hand up to silence him. "You can either sulk in your room alone for another hour and the majority of the wedding or you can make this memorable for your sister." I proposed, inviting him to help with the mini celebration Lila and I were planning.

He hesitated before making up his mind. "What do you have in mind?" He asked, a smile creeping up to my face. "Oh, I hate that smile." Before he could protest, I grabbed his hand and dragged him towards Sloane's room.

"It's nothing big. Lila is currently stealing some sweets from the kitchen and alcohol." I explained, Lila walked towards us with two bottles of wine and a cake in hand.

"What's he doing here?" She asked.

"He's joining." I answered. "Don't. It's a wedding, for god's sake. Let's put away any grudges we have and just make this memorable for not only Sloane and Luther but ourselves. Was an entire cake really necessary?"

"I'm hungry." She replied defensively.

We flew Sloane's door open, surprising her with a mini bachelorette party. "Surprise!" We spoke in unison, Ben's enthusiasm a little lower than Lila and mine.

"You guys don't have to." Sloane responded, a genuine smile making its way to her face.

"Of course we did. You're getting married. We have to celebrate." Lila answered, all of us getting comfortable around the table as we set out the cake and alcohol. "Cake, because who doesn't love it, and alcohol to loosen the nerves."

"I'm not nervous."

"Oh, you will be. Everyone does," I whispered the last part, Sloane giggling at my statement.

The four of us opened the wine and cake, feasting for a half hour until it was time for us to all get ready. A bottle and a half later, Sloane forced us out of the room, retreating to our own to get ready for the wedding. I made it back to my room, Viktor and Allison weren't there. Nowadays, I never knew where they were. I decided on wearing a sage green silk dress that cut off before my knees and slipped on a pair of silver chunks. I put my hair in a neat low bun, pulling a couple of strands out at the front to frame my face and put on simple makeup to make myself look nice. Simple, yet formal. I met everyone else at the elevator, all of us piling in and hitting the button to the banquet hall.

The doors opened with a ding, revealing a decorated ballroom with chairs, food, and alcohol along with LED lights. "Not sure if it's big enough," Klaus remarked, noticing how grand the room looked.

"This better be an open bar." Allison muttered.

"Hey, come on. It's for Luther. Let's perk up." Lila spoke in high spirits. "Wow."