As soon as I woke up, I knew I was going to hate this day. Sure, she invited me and I felt like the most horrible best friend for not going, but I honestly couldn’t bring myself to get dressed all fancy and put on a smile for her as if I was truly happy about today.
I sat in front of the tv, a bowl of cereal on my lap as my feet rested on the coffee table in front of me. For the last ten minutes, I’ve been zapping through the channels until I decided to just watch some sports. What else does a guy watch on a random Saturday?
I heard the front door being opened and looked over my shoulder to see who it was, only to find my big brother standing there with an unemotional look on his face. „Get up.“, he said in a stern voice. It actually made me flinch a little because I usually never hear him talk like that.
„Why?“, I asked and took anotehr bite of my cereal. Joe walked into my bedroom and came back out with a pair of jeans and a jacket and threw them at me. I almost dropped the bowl. Damn you, Joe.
„I wanna show you something.“ He wanted to show me something? I frowned, but didn’t bother asking what it was. I could actually use some distraction, so I got up, changed from my sweatpants into my jeans and put on the jacket. Before we left, I quickly checked my phone and noticed three missed calls from her.
„Come on, Nicholas.“, Joe said and pushed me out of the door. It really seemed like he was in a hurry, even though I couldn’t explain why. As soon as we got to the car, Joe started driving off and kept his eyes narrowed on the street.
„Why aren’t you there?“, I asked and Joe looked at me quickly before focusing back at the traffic. „Couldn’t leave my baby bro alone, right?“, he said and I saw a tiny little smirk on his face. It made me chuckled a little bit. He had every right to go, but decided to rather spend time with his heart-broken, little brother. What a nice guy he was.
We didn’t speak much during the car ride. It was never our thing to talk too much, especially in the car. But I slowly got suspicious as I realized which way he was driving. „Uhm…Joe? Could you tell me where were going?“
He didn’t answer. All he did was clenching his teeth and grabbing the steering wheel a little tightly until I could see his knuckles turning white.What the hell was going on? I raised an eyebrow and looked out of the window.
A sigh escaped my lips as I saw the church and all the cars and flowers in front of it. „Joe, I’m really not in the-….“
„Shut up!“, he said and parked in front of the beautifully decorated building. „I don’t wanna hear anything right now, do you understand me?“ I nodded and swallowed hard, still looking at the church before turning around to give him all of my attention.
„You’re gonna go in there and talk to her.“, Joe started and I wanted to protest, but he quickly raised his hand and shut me up again. „I know you didn’t want to come today. And I know you hate me for doing this right now, but I know you love her. And I know she loves you too, so it’s your fucking job to go in there and stop her from making the biggest mistake of her life.“, he said and I looked at him with my eyes wide open.
„W-What do you mean, she loves me too?“, I asked and bit my lower lip nervously. I never thought about the possibility of her actually feeling the same way and when I found out she’d get married, I gave up every hope I had left of every being with her in the future. Sure, we slept together once, but she made it pretty clear that it was a mistake.
„I’m not blind, Nick. Everyone sees it. In the way she looks at you, in the way she talks about you, in the way she acts around you…We both know her. She’s scared. That’s the only reason she’s standing in there with Wilmer right now. She wants to forget. About you, about her feelings for you and about that night you never wanted to talk to me about.“
„She told you?“, I said shocked and Joe cleared his throat. I couldn’t believe she told Joe about our one-night-stand when we promised to never say anything to anyone. I was just glad she never told Wilmer, or at least I hope she didn’t.
„You have two options now, Nick. You either let go and move on and let her make this mistake that won’t make her very happy because she doesn’t love Wilmer the way you’re supposed to love someone when you get married, or you can go in there and stop her. Tell her how you feel, tell her that she’d the one…you know, this whole Hollywood rom-com bullshit. It’s up to you. Which option sounds best?“
I licked my lips and looked at the church again. She was in there. Right behind that door on a beautiful wedding dress about to marry a guy who could never love her as much as I could. Someone who doesn’t know her the way I do. I had to stop it.
„Thank you, man!“, I said and quickly got out of the car and ran up to the church. I opened the door and hoped neither of them already said ‘I do’. My heart was racing and I felt like fainting, but that didn’t stop me from trying everything I could to get her.
„Demi!“, I screamed and my voice echoed through the whole building. Everyone turned around and gasped as they saw me and the looked on Demi’s was made me shiver a little. She looked so breathtakingly beautiful.
„Nick?“
I looked around to see some confused guests and Dianna covered her mouth with her hand, squeezing Eddie’s arm as if she was asking him to do something.
„D-Don’t marry him.“, I said and Wilmer frowned. I slowly walked down the aisle towards her and it’s still a miracle I didn’t fall, concidering how shaky I was on my legs in that very moments.
„I-I hope I’m not to late. But I don’t think I could live with myself if I didn’t do anything to stop you from doing this. I know it’s selfish and I know that the timing might not be the best…“, I chuckled a little and shurgged as I gave an apologizing look to the guests.
„But I realized something. I realized that I can’t let a day go by of you not knowing how I feel for you.“ Demi swallowed and I saw tears in the corner of her eyes. I wanted to run over to her and kiss her right in front of everybody.
„I love you. I’ve loved you for seven years and I don’t think I will ever stop. You and me…call me crazy, but I feel like it’s meant to be. Demi…think about us and think about last months.“
„N-Nick, I don’t think-…“
„You don’t think he has a right to know? Well…I’m sorry, but I’m not gonna lie to him, Demi. We had sex…“
Everyone gasped and Wilmer’s look changed from confused to anger and sadness in a second. I knew it was wrong to tell him that. It was Demi’s job, but I just couldn’t hold back any longer.
„I want you. Every seconds, of ever day…I wanna wake up next to you and see you face first thing in the morning. I wanna fall asleep with you in my arms.“ I slowly took a few steps closer to her and took her hand.
„I wanna hear your laugh every single day and I wanna be the reason for it. You can do one of two thinsg now. You can either throw me out and marry Wilmer…or you can be honest to yourself and to everyone in here and give us a chance.“
Demi took a deep breath and licked her lips as a tear rolled down her cheek. She looked over to Wilmer and let go of my hand. „I-I’m sorry….I…“
My heart skipped a beat and I felt like everything around me froze for a second. She looked at Wilmer and her chin started quivering even more now.
„I’m sorry, Wilmer, but I can’t marry you….H-He’s right. I have to face up to the fact that I love him. And I’m sorry for wasting your time and promising you something I couldn’t keep.“, she said and wipped away her tears. Wilmer sighed and took a deep breath before leaning down and kissing her cheek.
„I want you to be happy, Demi. And if that’s what you need to do to be happy…then hat’s the way it is.“, he said and looked at me, smiling weakly. „Treat her well, man.“, he said and patted my shoulder before leaving the church.
I watched him leave for a while before turning back to Demi who wore an honest and beautiful smile on her face. I couldn’t help it any longer. I grabbed her and kissed her passionately and to my surprise, every wedding guest started cheering and clapping.
I might actually have to thank Joe later.
