Under the Same Sky

Kiss the Breeze

5 YEARS LATER...

My eyelids fluttered open. I was smacked with instant regret as my eyes were singed by the sunlight pouring in through my window. I groaned. I checked my alarm. It was only 6:48 AM. I hadn't been able to sleep through the night lately, and it had been getting increasingly worse. I woke up multiple times and felt anxiety crushing my ribs even when I was asleep. 

"Babe, can we cuddle please? I can't sleep." I said. 

Clark rolled onto his side, draping his arm over me. He pressed a kiss to the back of my head. I nestled into the crook of his body and tried to go back to sleep. I was only plagued with weird dreams. When I woke up again at 7:15, I sighed and got up to get a glass of water. There were tons of text messages from Jenny, who I hadn't talked to in years. 

From: Jen

Y/N CALL ME NOW 

I took another sip of water and called her. 

"Babes" she says, seemingly out of breath

"Hey hun, what's up"

"I'M GETTING MARRIED!" she screeches

"OMG JEN CONGRATULATIONS, TO WHO?"

"JOSH! THE WEDDING IS MAY 24TH PLEASE SAY YOU CAN COME"

"JEN THAT'S SO SOON, YES OF COURSE I'LL COME"

"YAY I'M SO EXCITED TO SEE YOU & YEAH WE ARE HAVING A TINY RECEPTION AND JUST SIGNING THE PAPERS, SO WE FIGURED LETS DO IT SOON"

"THAT SOUNDS SO PERFECT"

"IT WILL BE AHH I'M SO EXCITED"

"IM EXCITED FOR YOU! JEN I'D LOVE TO CHAT MORE BUT I GOTTA GET READY FOR WORK. DID YOU WANT TO MEET FOR COFFEE THIS WEEK MAYBE?"

"YES YES YES, OR YOU CAN COME HELP ME PICK A CAKE"

"YES IM SO DOWN I NEVER SAY NO TO CAKE"

"YES OKAY ITS SETTLED I'LL TEXT YOU DEETS, BYE BABES LOVE YOU"

"LOVE YOU TOO CONGRATS AGAIN HUN"

She thanked me and hung up. I finished my water and shuffled to the bathroom to wash my face. Memories of the last time I saw her came flooding back. Her and Jake leaving and our huge fallout. I wondered how Jake was doing for a little bit. I hadn't thought about him in a long time. I wondered if he still thought about me. I had gotten back together with Clark a year after that and we have been together since. I wondered why he hadn't proposed yet. I was happy for Jenny, but I wondered when that would happen for me too. This would be the 6th total year that Clark and I had been together, but he showed no signs of committing. We were already practically living together. I was too nervous to bring it up to him, but maybe bringing him to the wedding would sway him. I showered and went to work. The day dragged, and it seemed like all the days lately had been. I felt weak, and I felt numb. I felt like I was watching the world move around me and I was trapped under ice, slowly freezing to death. 

Jenny had texted me about testing cakes tomorrow, which I was fine with. I hadn't seen anyone really besides my coworkers. We occasionally went out for drinks, but I didn't consider that socializing. It would be nice to see her, but I would have to stop myself from asking about Jake. 

THE NEXT DAY

I don't know why I was so nervous to meet Jenny. I hadn't seen her in so long, and so much had changed. I was actually kind of excited to. I needed a girlfriend to talk to. I had been keeping all these things to myself for so long that they were eating away at my insides. I actually look decent for once with a bit of makeup, a sundress, and some birkenstocks. I feel pretty. It was relatively warm here for it being mid April, but I would take it. It seemed like my mood changed with the weather--I was always happier when the sun was shining and the birds were chirping. 

The bakery we met at was an adorable little french bakery with tall windows. I walked in and saw her at the counter, telling an older woman the ones she'd like to try. She saw me and waved me over, absolutely beaming. It made me happy. I join her and we gather up the cake samples, our forks and some coffee and go to a table outside. 

"So, tell me how he proposed!" I gushed. 

She blushed so deep red, I had never seen Jen like this. 

"He did it at the end of one of our hikes. We hiked to a cabin, and were watching a film. Only it was a film he had made of us, at the end it had the proposal. Everyone we knew had been hiding around the cabin, so we had a little party right then." 

"That's so adorable, and so Josh." I said

"I know! What about you? are you seeing anyone?" 

"Yeah.." I said trailing off

"Girl, I need deets come on."

"It's Clark."

"Babes...are you at least happy with him?"

"I don't know, it's comfortable, but he won't make any move to change the way things are. Like there's no way he's going to propose. My mind keeps drifting back to Jake sometimes." I said, trailing off.

Fuck, I promised to stray away from talking about him.

"You deserve to be happy, floating. Not just comfy. You should bring it up to him."

"I know, i'm hoping he will be swayed by your wedding."

"Honey, I wouldn't put any bets on it. Men can be oblivious."

"Yeah I know. Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah of course."

"How is he?"

There was a long pause. Oh no. This couldn't be good. 

"He's doing well...he's also engaged."

***

TO BE CONTINUED 

Thank you all for reading this story! I appreciate all the sweet comments and how invested you guys are in this! There's going to be a ton more drama coming up so stay tuned! Much love x