Sanctuary (A Dan Smith/ Bastille fanfic)

60. Chloe

My fingers drum nervously against the dressing table as I finish off my make-up. I've done my eyeshadow three times now but I can't seem to get it right, each time I end up looking more over the top than the last. Usually I don't care for make-up much, but I feel like I need to make an effort for my best friend today. I groan as I look at myself in the mirror and huff at what I see. It's no work of art but will have to do.

"This hotel is incredible!" Amelie gleams as she comes out of the bathroom, her long blonde hair now in beautiful curls. "I could have honestly stayed in that bath for hours. You gotta give it to Chris, he's set us up well in here! I mean he is proper loaded now so he should treat us, but this is something else!" I laugh as Amelie rants about the amazing room. She's right though, it is a beautiful venue and I can't believe that Chris has done so well for himself to be able to afford all of this luxury. I can't wait to see him to tell him how proud I am of him. I see him fairly often, but 4 times a year just isn't enough really. "I'm just sorry that it's me that's your plus one and not Joe." My happy smile whilst thinking about Chris has instantly turned into a frown at the mention of my ex-boyfriend's name.

"Amelie, I told you not to mention him again. He clearly wasn't the one so I'm over it." I sigh. I spent over a year with him but when it came to it; he didn't want the same thing as me. I'm ready for settling down, kids and everything, but he just wasn't ready for it. There's no bad blood between us at all, it was a perfectly civilised break up, but Amelie can't seem to think that it was a mistake. Personally, I just think that if I didn't love him more than anyone else I ever had before, then he wasn't the one I'm meant to be with.

"He wasn't Dan you mean?" She has a smug grin on her face and instead of giving her the pleasure of responding I simply frown and turn back to the mirror to finish my mascara. "He's in this very building right now you know. How do you feel about seeing him today?" She sits down on the seat next to me and forces me to face her.

"Fine." I lie, my whole body tingling in anticipation. "It will be weird but fine." Weird is an understatement.

"Fine.. Code word for totally scared, freaked out, nervous, anxious, shitting it-"

"I get it Amelie." I roll my eyes at her and stand from my chair to get dressed. "I'm nervous, yes." I admit whilst taking my robe off and replacing it with my dress. It's a pale pink knee length dress which is totally over the top, but Amelie assured me looks good on me. "Zip." I order whilst turning around and holding my hair up for her. She obliges, running over to me quickly and helping me get into my dress properly.

"Beautiful." She smiles in the mirror at me and I must admit that I look okay despite feeling totally uncomfortable in it. "What are you doing with your hair?" She asks, narrowing her eyes as she looks at it up and down.

"Um keeping it like this?" I look at my hair. It doesn't look that bad, does it?

"No." She shakes her head quickly. "Sit." She points to the seat and this time I oblige, letting her play hairdresser on my hair.

Half an hour later we're both ready to leave, looking relatively smart in our dresses and heels for a change. "I'm so out of my comfort zone." I moan, straightening the dress out. Even though it's knee length there's still too much of my legs on show. I wanted to wear tights at least, but Amelie moaned that I looked stupid with them on. "Why are jeans not acceptable for weddings?"

"Shut up." Amelie nudges my arm as we walk down the stairs of the stately home where Chris is getting married. "We're so lucky Chris saved us a room here and we don't need to go far. It means when our heels hurt we can just pop upstairs to change them." Amelie grins and I nod in agreement. Knowing me, I'll last for a few hours maximum in these killer heels. "Or if you and Dan fancy a quickie there are rooms upstairs to use."