Spark in the Dark

Chapter 110

Lyla parked her car near the space the Wahewa were lending them for the wedding. She got out of her car and walked over to where Shawn was placing a centerpiece on one of the tables.

"Damn, looks good," Lyla told her maid of honor.

"It better. I've been at it for a couple hours now. Where have you been?"

"I decided to stop at TM to welcome the guys home before coming here."

"Oh," Shawn said lamely.

"I actually sort of thought you'd change your mind and go, too."

"Well... I didn't." Shawn turned to walk back to the cart where the rest of centerpieces were waiting to be put onto tables. Lyla followed Shawn and picked up two vases full of flowers. She waited, thinking Shawn was bound to ask questions, but Shawn stayed silent.

Once they moved on from centerpieces to hanging lights, Lyla realized she wasn't bringing him up.

"So," Lyla began after being in silence for a couple of minutes, "Juice grew out his mohawk. Has a full head of hair now."

Shawn gave Lyla a dirty, pointed look. "You were the one who said it was time to move on, Ly. Multiple times, if I recall correctly."

"It had been ten months since you heard from Juice and I saw a cute guy hitting on you. I thought maybe it was time, but...," Lyla said and her voice trailed off.

"You thought? Are you saying you were wrong?" Shawn asked.

"I don't know," Lyla shrugged. "I guess I could have been. You know, if you're not over Juice."

"I'm over him."

"Then say his name."

"I am over Juice," Shawn insisted, but as she said his name, she felt her heart ache. It was the same ache she felt anytime anyone said his name. She felt it when she opened her closet to see his hoodie hanging on the hook. She had even stopped keeping orange juice in the house because she kept forgetting to buy it and couldn't bring herself to write Juice on her grocery list. Shawn knew it was stupid and ridiculous, but that didn't change anything.

"Then why didn't you go see your dad this morning?"

"We've had this conversation. Seriously? It's your wedding day. Let's talk about you and Opie. What are you wearing tonight?"

"You've seen my wedding dress. You were with me when I bought it," Lyla laughed.

"I meant what are wearing later tonight," Shawn clarified with a wink.

"I'm torn between two different things actually. I should shown them to you and let you pick."

"Does one look more innocent than the other?"

"Hmm," Lyla thought for a minute. "Probably this blue set I have is more innocent. Why? Should I go with the red?"

"Nope. Blue all the way. Ope's seen Lyla the pornstar. Show him wifey material Lyla tonight."

Lyla laughed some more. "Okay, okay. You talked me into it."

Both girls climbed down off the ladders they had been on to hang lights and took a step back.

"Looks good," Shawn said.

"It does. We did good," Lyla agreed. "If porn ever falls through for us, we could be wedding planners."

"And to think Gemma thought we should let the prospects do this."

Lyla wrapped her arm around Shawn's waist. "Thank you for being my maid of honor."

Shawn smiled at her friend. "Thank you for asking me."

Lyla pulled her into a hug. "I love you, Shawn. I just want you to be happy, ok?"

"I know. I'm working on it."

"You shouldn't have to work on it. He either makes you happy or he doesn-"

"Lyla," Shawn interrupted her. "Your wedding day. Don't worry about me tonight. Please?"

"Okay," Lyla sullenly agreed. She brightened back up a moment later. "Go home and get ready. I don't want you being late tonight. Or else I might have to go bridezilla on your ass."

* * *

The Cro Eater rose from her knees in front of Juice with a smile on her face.

"You like that, baby?"

"Sure," Juice lied. He had tried to find some release, but only ended up feeling guilty. It felt too much like cheating. Juice reminded himself a few times that Shawn was with someone else, but he couldn't shake the feeling that this was wrong.

"You ready for more?"

"Actually, I think you should get out."

The Cro Eater looked surprised, then a little offended, but she did as she was told. Juice went over to the bed Gemma had made up for him and laid down. He stared at the ceiling for a solid minute before finally reaching his hand into his pants pocket and pulling out his wallet. He opened it and touched the photos strips, letting his fingers trace the edge. He took a deep breath and pulled them out.

The pictures on Shawn were on top, as usual. He couldn't help but to smile back at her smiling face, even though seeing her again made his heart break. He cursed at himself for being such an idiot. He flipped the pictures over to see the ones of them together. He remembered she once said the one of her kissing his cheek was her favorite. The one underneath that they were kissing each other and they had kept kissing even after the picture was taken. For a moment Juice wondered if he'd ever kiss her, again.

There was a knock at his door. Juice rose to answer it and saw Chibs.

"We're at the table," Chibs told him.

"Okay," Juice said and stepped into the hall. Chibs wrapped an arm around Juice's shoulders.

"Good to have you home, Juicy boy."

"Thanks, man. Good to be home," Juice told him, but Chibs could hear in his voice that it wasn't good at all.

"You alright?"

"Yeah."

"You miss her?" Chibs guessed.

Juice stopped walking."Yeah."

Chibs sighed and nodded. "You broke it. Now you got to fix it."

"She's with someone else, Chibs."

"Aye," Chibs agreed. "But are you really going to let that stop you?"

Chibs didn't wait on Juice's answer. He went the rest of the way down the hall and into the chapel. Juice nodded and followed him. Chibs was right. He broke it and now he was going to fix it. Juice would never be able to live with himself if he had lost her because of his own stubborn stupidity.