Forever and Always

4 - Bittersweet

Vaughn

Although I hadn't seen Millie in the past six years, I felt as if I knew just as much about her as her friends. Vera talked about their shenanigans constantly and in a way, I knew Millie through the stories my sister so often told. I wasn't surprised when I heard of her engagement. The stories had slowly begun to sound more and more like a realistic version of a rom-com over the past months, usually featuring Millie and a man named Parker.

As far as I know, Millie had dated three guys in total, none of which deserved her time. I never met them as I was never around Millie to meet them, but Vera had never been fond of them. First, there was Rhett who I hear who had a personality just about as dusty as his name. Next, there was Milo who according to Vera, was "a hot nerd but far too sophisticated." And finally, there had been Parker, perfect Parker as Vera had told me. I didn't need to know much to think about how unperfect this Parker probably was.

I watched Millie and Parker's relationship grow through social media and it just... it didn't settle. They looked the part of the happy and in love couple, but small things about it threw warning signals off in my brain. Pictures where his focus was somewhere out of shot, or where his arms weren't wrapped around her quite as tightly as a man in love's arms should be wrapped around his then fiance. That was when I realized what Millicent Barner meant to me, and when I realized that I would be heartbroken if I lost her to this man.

This explains why I was sitting on the shore of Lake Superior only five minutes away from Millicent Barner-soon-to-be-Killam waiting on my heart to break. Not ten minutes after, I was in my car on the way to calm a storm about to rage.

- - -

Sawyer

The closer I was to Vaughns pretentious fourth-floor bedroom, the antsier I had become. I assumed that he was going to come help clean up the messy situation his sister had found herself in, but I wasn't sure how far away he was or how long it would take him to get here. That did not mean I was going to go into his room alone.

I knew she was in the room, the door was locked and I could hear her faint breathing as she seemed to be sleeping. I was too anxious to attempt to knock on the door, and my anxiousness seemed to continue to grow as the minutes passed. By the time Vaughn did finally arrive, I felt as if I had paced a hole through the floor.

- - -

Vaughn

I had known all along that Sawyer would find Millie in my room, but I did not know that he would be pacing outside of my bedroom door instead of inside being his usual charismatic self while trying to comfort the ex-bride. He looked like a mess.

"Shaw?" He looked up at me and I could tell that something was off. His skin was an almost sickly pale and his eyes seemed darker and less focused than normal. "Are you feeling alright?" I asked, walking closer to stand with him in front of my door. He ran a shaky hand through his hair.

"Yeah, I just..." he chuckled, "I don't know, something has me on edge today." He leaned against the wall and rubbed at his eyes. I nodded in agreement.

"You look terrible," I stated, grinning. He looked up at me again, looking a bit more like himself.

"You've never grown out of being a stuck up jerk, have you?" he asked, smirking. There we go, a best friend back to normal. I shook my head and grinned.

"So is Millie in my room?" I asked, gesturing towards the closed door. Sliding down the wall to sit on the floor, he nodded.

"Well, it's either her or some random stranger. The door is locked, but it sounds like someone is sleeping." It has to be Millie, it has to be. No other guest at the wedding knows this house like she does, aside from Vera but Vera was never on the fourth floor.

"It has to be her, no one else would have known to come here," I state, nervously placing a fist on the wooden door.

"As I have assumed," Sawyer answers from his comfortable position on the floor. His demeanor had changed incredibly fast, and at the moment he seemed exhausted. I nodded in agreement.

"Here goes nothing."

- - -

Millicent

Someone was knocking on Vaughn's bedroom door, and I was not supposed to be in Vaughn's bedroom. That was the first terrifying thought I had as I woke up from my dreamless sleep. I quickly sat up and left the comfort of Vaughn's bed to go to the door.

None of my relatives knew enough about the house to find this room, so it had to be a relative of his. It could be Vaughn... but Vera had said he had business to attend to today so he couldn't come to the wedding. How would I explain this to anyone but him? I guess I could throw out the depressed almost-bride card... well, here goes nothing.

I began to open the door, standing slightly behind it to hide my disheveled appearance. It didn't take me long to recognize who was behind the door, and as soon as I realized who was behind the door, I began to cry again.

- - -

Vaughn

I knocked for almost five minutes before the door opened, but it didn't take long for the door to fly open from the time it was finally unlocked. Almost instantly, Millie was in my arms.

Millie was in my arms and I was in hers. Millie was crying and I wiped away her tears. Millie was with me. Millie was with me.

Sawyer was standing beside me, looking like he was going to pass out.

- - -

Muahaha.

-Alyce