"Hey, if it makes you feel any better, it's completely obvious she's stepping out on him. Even he knows it, but he doesn't want to lose another 'love of his life' as he says." Bradley told me.
"He has 'loves of his life'?" I asked him and they both nodded. "Oh." I shrugged and opened another beer.
"Hey Claire, I'm sorry." Ben said and I shook my head.
"Why? We broke up like a year ago." I shrugged. "It's not a big deal. I don't care." I lied to them. They knew I was lying.
"Well, Ben, who's your latest sex buddie?" Bradley asked. Double ouch.
"No one." Ben shrugged.
"No one?" Bradley and I both stared at him.
"What? I'm not sixteen anymore." He shrugged.
"Are you serious?" I asked him.
"Claire, I haven't even had that much sex." He said.
"I don't believe you." I laughed but he didn't crack a smile.
"I've done it four times." He said. "All with the same girl." His eyes narrowed. He was talking about me. I didn't say anything.
"Uh.." Bradley looked from me to Ben and back to me.
"I'm going home." I said, and nobody stopped me.
The next few weeks were kind of boring, nothing to talk about. I was at some job interview and I'm pretty sure I blew it when my phone went off. It was Lindsay, calling to say she was back from Greece. I was happy, and I told her I would meet her and Matt for dinner later that night. They said Ben was coming and I almost told them I couldn't make it, but I realized I was being stupid. Us four had been tight for years and years. Ben and I had had worse arguments, it was no big deal. I got back to my place, and I noticed there was furniture and personal items on the front lawn of the complex. I shook my head, and then realized it was my stuff. No, no, no. I ran up to my apartment and everything was gone. There was a bright orange eviction notice paper on the ground. "Fuck!" I cried out loud. This was not happening. I pulled out my phone and called the only person I wanted to talk to about this with.
"Hello?"
"Ben?" I was crying, and I didn't try and hide it.
"Claire? Are you okay?" His voice sounded tired.
"No, no.." I tried to catch my breath but I couldn't.
"Claire, calm down. What's wrong?" He asked. I just shook my head, covering my mouth so he wouldn't hear the violent sobs. "Claire?" His voice became distant to me. What the fuck was I supposed to do now? "Claire, what the fuck is going on?" He asked, and when I didn't answer, he told me he was coming to see me. I didn't move until I saw Ben standing in the doorway. I got up and ran into his arms. He didn't say anything. He just held me, and I loved him more than ever for that.
"Ben," I sobbed his name in his shirt. He just hugged me harder.
"It'll be okay." He whispered, and when he said, I believed him. But I was being stupid.
"No it won't." I shook my head. "What am I going to do?" I kept shaking my head and he held me away from him, his hands still on my shoulders.
"Look, you won't have to do this alone. If anything, you've got me. And Matt and Lindsay. It will be okay. I swear to God it will be okay. You have to trust me now." He said and I only cried harder. He just hugged me harder.
"Tonight, at dinner," I said through sobs. "Please don't say anything to Lindsay and Matt. Please?" I looked up at him and he smiled softly.
"I won't say a word." He promised. I closed my eyes and laid my cheek on his chest. I felt his chin on the top of my head.
"Ben, what am I going to do?" I only cried harder.
"I don't know," He whispered. "We'll think of something." He added, and then kissed the top of my head. "We'll think of something."
At dinner, Ben kept his promise and didn't say a word about my eviction. Matt and Lindsay told us about the honeymoon, which sounded amazing, and sounded like they had an incredible time.
"I mean, I had no idea everyone was so nice in Greece, and I also didn't know that most of them spoke english." Lindsay continued and I laughed.
"You didn't know that?" I asked and she shook her head. I laughed again and shook my head. "Hey, I was wondering, because Matt and I don't want to go back home just yet, because we don't want to go back to work anytime soon, we were wondering if maybe we could all hang out at your place after dinner Claire?" Lindsay asked me. Under literally any condition, I would have let them hang at my place for as long as they wanted to, but I couldn't tell them I got evicted. It was too embarrassing.
"Oh, well you know I would love that more than anything," I looked at Ben, who pretended to be interested in the bread they had given us. "But my place is actually being bug bombed." I lied.
"Oh, well where are you staying?" Matt asked.
"Uh," I hadn't really thought about that, which is stupid because I should have. "I might just go back home to my parents for a while." I told them.
"Why? Do your parents know?" Ben asked me.
"No, not yet. But I'm sure they would love to have me visit for a while."
"But do you know how long you'll have to be staying with them?" Ben looked at me.
"Are you guys hiding something from us?" Lindsay asked.
"What? Me and Ben keeping secrets? Yea, right." I let out a laugh.
"Well, it seems like it." Lindsay shrugged.
"You're being paranoid." Ben shook his head, and that kind of gave away our cover.
"You guys, why won't you tell us?" Lindsay asked us.
"There is nothing to tell." I told her.
"Do you promise?"
"Lindsay, yes. I promise." I lied. I felt awful, but it got her off my back for a little while longer.
After dinner, we decided to go Ben's, and we all just hung out there, drinking and talking.
"So, what do you two plan to do next as a married couple?" I asked Matt and Lindsay.
"Well," Lindsay beamed at Matt, who looked at her like she was his whole world. "We want to try and start a family." She smiled.
"Really?" Ben looked at Matt. "That's awesome." He added.
"Yea, but we've been trying for a while now actually, and nothing seems to be working."
"Maybe you're doing it wrong?" I asked them.
"How can we do it wrong?" Matt stared at me.
"Oh trust, there are ways." I said and Ben nodded.
"Yea, when Claire and I did..."
"Okay," I interrupted Ben.
"Wait, you guys had sex?" Matt stared at us. "When was this?"
"Back when we were dating.." I looked at my drink.
"Are you two fucking with us." Lindsay stared at us.
"No." Ben said simply.
"Why didn't you tell us sooner? We could have had like a double wedding." Lindsay looked at me.
"We.." Ben started but stopped talking.
"Lindsay, we broke up for a reason. We aren't going to get married." I told her.
"Yea," Ben agreed.
"Why not? Why did you two even break up?" Matt asked us. I looked at Ben. He could tell them. It would do him well to admit to his fault.
"Well," Ben looked away from me. "I wasn't loyal to Claire." He answered.
"You cheated on her?" Lindsay asked.
"I was never good to her." He answered, which was true too.
"What do you mean?" Matt asked. Why were we even talking about this? It didn't matter anymore.
"Matt, I see the way you look at Lindsay, the way you treat her, the way you love her; I wasn't like that with Claire. I was stupid and I blew it." He said. I looked up at him. He still didn't make eye contact with me.
"Ben, would you change it if you could?" Lindsay asked. She had always been a hopeless romantic. Ben didn't answer. "Ben!" Lindsay snapped and I hid a smile.
"Yea Lindsay, shit. I would go back and change it if I could." He said and I took a deep breath in.
"Why didn't you?" I asked him.
"What do you mean?"
"You had all that time to fix it, shit, do you know how hungover on you I was?" I asked him.
"You were?" he looked pained. I guess it all started when I was asked to be the maid of honor for my best friend's wedding. That's when I realized that being twenty seven and still single wasn't as "hip" as I thought it was. Don't get me wrong, I was more than happy for Lindsay, but part of me was (obviously) jealous. Here she was, marrying this incredible man she had known for more than half of her life, and here I was, still single and almost thirty.
"Claire!" Lindsay called from the makeup room. She was already in her wedding dress, and our other friend, Monika was doing her hair.
"What's up?" I asked, walking into the bathroom.
"Do I look okay? Do you think Matt will like how I look?" She asked. I stared at her in the mirror.
"He'd be crazy not to." I smiled. "You look stunning." I smiled and she smiled back.
"You think?" She tilted her head.
"Hey, keep your head still!" Monika exclaimed.
"Sorry," Lindsay straightened her head and stared at herself. "Anyways, Claire, you've got to get ready." She said. "The ceremony begins in less than an hour!" She cheered. "I can't believe I'm getting married." She sighed. "And with Matthew," She closed her eyes.
"I'm so happy for you two! You two are literally the cutest couple I've ever known." Monika smiled.
"You two really are." I agreed.
"Well thank you guys, it's means a lot to me, but it would mean even more if you two got ready now!" She clapped her hands. "I'm getting married in like twenty minutes, holy shit!" She blushed. Monika laughed and I told Lindsay I would go get ready, going off to my own hotel room, which I was sharing with Lindsay's little sister because I didn't have a date. My makeup and hair was already done, so all I had to do was put on the long lilac gown and shoes and I would be ready to go. The dress was floor length, and strapless, with a darker purple bustier top and a light purple bottom that was loose and flowy. The shoes were the dark purple corsage heels and because I was the maid of honor, I had to wear a purple wrist corsage. When I was fully dressed, I stared at myself in the mirror, and after debating if I looked good or not, I decided I looked okay, and headed down to the chapel. Once in the chapel, everyone was preparing for the service to start, and of course, the bride and groom were nowhere to be seen.
"Where is Lindsay?" I asked Lindsay's mom.
"Oh honey, she's in the back room. She wants me to tell you that she wants to see you one last time before she is a married woman." Her mom kissed my cheek. "You look beautiful by the way." She smiled and gave me a push to the back room.
"Lindsay," I gushed as I entered the room she and her dad were in.
"Hi." She smiled wide. "This is it." She looked around. "This is the moment we've been waiting for since like second grade." She laughed, tears in her eyes.
"Oh, don't cry, you're going to ruin your makeup." I rushed to her side and she just laughed.
"I love you so much," She smiled at me and I nodded.
"I love you too. I'm so happy for you and Matt. You two were made for each other." I said and she smiled. "I'm serious, who else do you know that obsesses over Lord of the Rings at two in the morning?" I asked and she laughed.
"No one that I know of." She giggled. Monika walked in and nodded, which was my queue to go out and meet up with one of the grooms I was walking down the aisle with.
"Good luck." I squeezed Lindsay's hand and she smiled.
"You two, Ben is a hottie." She laughed. Ben was 'my' grooms man.
"Stop," I laughed and left the room. Ben was standing outside, finishing off his cigarette. Awesome.
"Hey, we're ready to go." I told him.
"Alright," He said, putting his cigarette out and holding the door open for me. "You look good by the way." He said, eyeing me up and down.
"Thanks." I felt my cheeks turn red.
"So, how has your day been so far?" He asked while we waited in line to walk down the aisle.
"It's been alright, I mean it's stressful, and it isn't even my wedding." I shook my head and he laughed.
"Yea, well it's been pretty relaxing for me." He smirked.
"Oh I wonder why, all you had to do was put on a suit and fix your hair, and then you go out and yourself a smoke."
"Hey, you could do that too." He shrugged.
"No, I have to put on my makeup, make sure Lindsay is okay... it's a whole big deal when you're friends with the bride." I told him.
"Why is that?"
"Huh?" I faced him.
"Why do women make such a big deal out of everything."
"By everything do you mean a wedding? Because this will be the last extravagant thing Lindsay will do in her lifetime."
"What about having babies?" He smirked, like somehow he had won the conversation.
"That's not extravagant." I told him. "Having a human being, that's covered in blood and other body fluids being pushed out of your vagina is so not extravagant." I shook my head. He laughed.
"I'm sure it's more sentimental than that." He watched me.
"I'm sure. But it won't be as amazing at today will be."
"And how do you know that?" He asked.
"Well, I don't know that for every woman, but I know Lindsay." I told him and he nodded.
"Ah, so you're saying she won't enjoy life anymore after this wedding is over?" He laughed.
"No.." I started but got cut off by the wedding planner.
"You two, stop your arguing and get ready, you're next." He said. Ben gave me his arm to take and I took it. He smiled at me one last time before walking down the aisle. Everyone stared at us as we walked to the front of the chapel. Ben squeezed my arm and I smiled a little bit. Once we were ready to separate, he gave me a quick kiss on the cheek and we split off. Matt was already there, looking more handsome than ever, and finally Lindsay and her dad stood in the doorway. I looked at Matt, who was in complete awe, and I smiled back at Lindsay, who smiled right back at me. Her dad and her slowly made their way to the front and split off with a hug, a kiss, and a few tears were shed.
After the wedding service, we all filed into the party room, where everyone gave their speeches and whatnot. When it was my turn, I stood up and smiled at the newly wed couple.
"Lindsay and I have been inseparable for twenty-one years, and I have never felt more proud and happy for her than in this single moment. We've been planning this day since the first day we met, seriously, and it was nothing like we had planned. I think we can both agree that it's way better." I said and everyone seemed to enjoy and have a good laugh at that. "Matthew, thank you for taking my best friend in when she was at the lowest point in her life, and loving her no matter what. I think every girl deserves someone like you, unfortunately Lindsay already has the best one. Matt, everyone says Lindsay is so lucky to have you, but come on, we all know that's not really the truth. You're incredibly lucky to have her. She will never stop loving you, no matter what happens, what mistakes you make, she will give you her unsupportive love; so make the right choices because hurting her won't stop her. Always have a bag of cheddar cheese and sour cream potato chips in your house, because she seriously can't live without them, and make sure you have Ben and Jerry's Phish Food, because that's another thing she leans on for any circumstance. But Matthew, don't forget to love her. When she's crying or sad, be her shoulder she can lean on. When she's laughing, be her smile. But simply be hers. Lindsay is one of the kindest, smartest, most caring, beautiful people I have ever met. And if you hurt her even a little bit, I will make sure you will regret it." I said and everyone laughed again, even though I wasn't really trying to be funny. "But, to both of you, I love you more than I love my own self, so I hope you both have an amazing life ahead of you. I know you will." I smiled and sat back down. Everyone stood up and clapped and clapped. I smiled as Lindsay kissed my cheek.
"That was awesome." She whispered and I laughed.
"Oh my god!" Someone screamed from one of the tables. Lindsay and Matt stood up so fast, their chairs fell backwards. I stood up next, and then everyone stood up, panic spreading on their faces.
"What's going on?" Ben came up from behind me.
"I don't know," I whispered and then Lindsay let out a cry and fled to the table her family was sitting at.
"Daddy!" She cradled her dad, who was holding his chest.
"Oh my god," I muttered. Matt followed his newly wed wife.
"Someone call 911!" Matt called and Ben pulled out his phone, turning away from the scene to talk.
