Light Me Up [HS AU]

57

There were a lot of truths to life: change is constant, you can't control everything, time is finite, life is unpredictable, kindness matters and Peyton Brooks was a fucking badass. She wasn't scared of our dad and his delusions. For some reason he came off like a Marvel villain when he sat there opposite from the beautiful young woman, challenging her to admit a truth that wasn't hers. Peyton truly loved Harry, and if there was a material motive to her commitment, it would have fooled the lot of us. 

Harry was furious. He refused to speak to dad at all for a while. Any meetings and events that demanded our presence, I went to with Alli. Dad didn't question it and I never said a word about it. Obviously dad had pushed Harry too far this time, and while he still did his job for the corporation, he was a silent partner. 

Mum tried harder to maintain some sort of contact with him, but he hardly ever replied to her messages and never took her calls. He was fed up and I couldn't blame him. The way they treated Peyton was inexcusable and unforgivable, and if Harry was anything, it was loyal. He was doing everything he could to prove to Peyton that our parents were garbage and no matter what they said, it had no effect whatsoever on him and his decision to share his life with her. 

I still had lunch with Peyton at work every day. We met in our usual spot and ate sandwiches and shared a laugh. Her friendship was one of the certainties in my life, I could count on her and she could count on me. 

"Wanna swap sandwiches?" she asked and held up her neatly wrapped, perfectly spread and cut sandwich. 

I looked at the peanut butter and jelly sandwich in my hand, oddly shaped from lying in my bag too long, before I remembered to put it in the fridge. "Sure," I said, well-aware that I was getting the long end of that deal. 

She laid down with her head in my lap and ate the pb&j sandwich, occasionally laughing at my stupid jokes and just existing in my company.

"You're my best friend, you know that?" I said as I chewed the delicious sandwich she had brought.

"Because of the sandwich?" she laughed and I rolled my eyes.

"Of course it's because of the sandwich, you twat," I laughed. "No, seriously. You're the best friend I've ever had and I appreciate you so much. I don't think I could ever find a more perfect person to call my soon to be sister-in-law."

"Aww," she said and stuck out her bottom lip in a pout. "You're so sweet!" She reached up and pinched my chin, making me laugh. "You're my best friend, too. Thank you for letting me be part of your life. There's actually something I've been wanting to talk to you about..." she sat up and turned to face me. I was pretty sure I knew, what she was about to ask me. I'd been waiting for her to ask me to be her maid of honour, but they still hadn't set a date for their wedding and Peyton wasn't the bridezilla type, who went nuts looking at wedding dresses and place settings. She didn't seem to be in a hurry to get married at all.