Carrots With Ketchup

Part 14

It was the night of the wedding. Everyone was nervous and happy. The four groomsmen walked the four bridesmaids down the aisle. Harry and I led, followed by Louis and Tasha, then Sara and Liam trailed by Zayn and Sam. Melissa was escorted down in her gorgeous white gown by her father. Niall’s face shone as he watched his blushing bride come to him. Everyone cried as they said their vows and then the kiss that sealed the deal. It was a beautiful moment.

The reception was what I was worried about. During the ceremony, I didn’t have time to think about Louis, but at the reception, he’d be with Eleanor. There’d be little to distract me from the awkwardness of it all. I hoped it wouldn’t be as weird as I thought it was gonna be. I was wrong; it was worse.

As soon as Harry and I entered the room, we started to head towards the left side of the head table. I glanced across the room and my eyes locked onto the beautiful blue eyes staring back at me. Instead of looking immediately away like we both obviously expected the other to do, we held the gaze. I silently counted to five in head before he casually looked away. My face was on fire. I’d let my guard down and the truth was plain on my face. I glanced around to see if anyone had noticed and saw Eleanor turning away from me. Whether or not she had seen, I couldn’t be sure.

Melissa and Niall had decided to add a little fun to the dinner portion of their reception by playing the clink kiss game. Whenever the audience clinked their glasses, Melissa and Niall had to kiss. In return, they got to choose a couple who also had to kiss. At one point, I accidentally bumped my glass against my plate, being the klutz I am, and Harry took it as me clinking my glass. Everyone joined in and after Niall had taken Melissa’s face in his hands and kissed her lips tenderly, she’d pointed to me knowingly. Like Harry, she thought I’d started that and was paying me back. Harry leaned over and put his hand on my cheek. As we kissed, I began to think how Lou would feel about this. I pulled back and turned away from Harry as everyone applauded. I locked eyes with Lou at the other end of the table again. I looked away this time, embarrassed.

Dinner soon became dancing. I told Harry to go have fun, that I would join him in a minute. He went and joined the rest of the guys where they were dancing. Melissa was with Niall and the other bridesmaids. She caught my eye and crooked her index finger, beckoning me over. I rolled my eyes and obliged. It was her special day, after all.

I stood and began to walk over, deliberately not looking at Louis. I began to fiddle with my bracelet as I drew nearer towards the group. Before I knew what had happened, the ground was drawing nearer, my feet tangled over one another. I threw my arms out to catch myself and felt two sets of hands catch me. I looked into Harry’s face on my right, then into Louis’ on my left.  As I looked back at Harry, I noticed him and El staring at Lou. They were the only ones who knew that we hadn’t been speaking. El knew because I’d been ignoring her the way Lou had been ignoring me, though only to avoid feeling awkward. Harry knew because he’d watched as I declined El’s calls and Lou declined mine. Now all awkwardness broke loose.

Regaining my footing, I leaned into Harry as he wrapped his arm around my waist. “Thanks,” I murmured, eyeing Louis as he awkwardly ran his hand through his hair, eyes on the floor and his right hand going to his pocket. Harry led me away to dance.

I divided my time between dancing with Harry and dancing with the bride and bridesmaids. After a while, I felt a drop of sweat slide down my face and realized the foundation covering the horrible scar on my forehead was probably coming off. I excused myself to the washroom to put more on to cover the damage.

I kept my head down to hide my smearing makeup which was why I smacked right into someone. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry!” I yelled, stumbling back. My eyes raked from his shoes to his face and my hand flew to my forehead to cover my scar. He’d just left the guys’ washroom and we were alone in the hallway, him blocking my path.