"Hey! Watch it!" my friend Mike yelled after the lady who'd ran passed. Reagan put her hand on my arm to steady me, and I looked down the street in the direction that the woman had run. I caught a glance at the blonde hair flying out behind her, and knew instantly who it was.
"Was that Willow?" Reagan asked, as if reading my mind. I turned to her with a confused look.
"Yeah, I think it was," I answered. Reagan's face filled with worried.
"Do you think something is wrong? She may be looking for you," she suggested. I shrugged.
"I don't know," I said slowly. "Look, you guys go on to the theater. I'm gonna try to catch up with Will and see what's up. I'll meet you there, okay?"
My friends agreed and headed off to the movie theater, and I started to run down the street after Willow. When I reached the corner, I looked straight and didn't see her, so I turned right. I saw her blonde hair about halfway down the street, and started running again.
"Willow! Stop!" I yelled at her. She slowed and turned around. I soon caught up to her, fighting to catch my breath. "What's… going on?"
"What are you doing here?" she asked, confused. I motioned back down the street from where I'd just run from.
"You almost ran into me back there, and I thought that something might be wrong," I answered. "Why are you running?"
Willow shrugged. "I don't know. I just needed to run away."
"From what?"
"Everything… everyone…" she trailed off and looked up into the sky for a moment, squinting in the sunlight, before turning back to me. She smiled at me a little and I smiled back uneasily. "I'm sorry, Zac. I didn't mean to worry you. Everything is okay."
"You're sure?" I asked. She nodded. "Well, okay. I'm about to go catch a movie with some friends. Do you want to come?"
"No, that's okay. Maybe some other time," she answered. I nodded and gave her a hug.
"Okay. I'll see you later then." I turned and jogged back down the street. When I reached the corner again, I stopped and looked back, but Willow was gone.
"Hey yourself," she replied. "I was wondering if you were going to show up or not."
"What, and miss our rehearsal? I'm insulted…" I trailed of, a fake look of hurt crossing my face. Megan smiled and stepped away from me.
"I'm just checking to make sure that you remembered," she assured me. She opened the door of her house and we stepped inside. She took her jacket out of the hall closet, then stopped by the stairs. "Mom! Taylor's here!"
"Oh oh, don't go yet!" Mrs. Trevett called back down the stairs. Megan turned to me and rolled her eyes. A few seconds later, her mother descended the stairs, camera in hand. "Picture time!"
"Please, mom, you don't need pictures of us leaving for the rehearsal," Megan insisted. Mrs. Trevett waved her hand at her daughter.
"Oh, of course I do. Now, stand together in front of the door. That's it. Smile!" She snapped the picture, the followed us out the door. Megan gave her an annoyed look.
"Mom…"
"What? I just want to get a shot of you two getting into the car!" Mrs. Trevett insisted. Meg turned back to me and shook her head a little, and I smiled. I walked her over to the passenger side of my car. Mrs. Trevett waved at us to look at her, and we plastered fake smiles to our faces as I held the door open for Meg. "Okay, that's good! I'll see you two at the church in about half an hour!"
"As if we could forget…" Meg grumbled under her breath as she got into the car. I tried not to laugh. Meg sighed after I slide in behind the wheel and turned the car on. "Thank you so much."
"For…?"
"Saving me! She is driving me absolutely insane today with that stupid camera," Meg told me. I smiled as I buckled my seatbelt.
"Oh, come on now. It's her only child's last day being single. It's a memorable time for her," I tried to reason with my fiancée. She gave me a look much similar to the one she'd given to her mother only minutes before, and I laughed a little. "She loves you."
"I know, I know," Meg said. I rested my hand on her knee and leaned over to give her a kiss.
"Well, are you ready to go?"
And now it was time for the wedding rehearsal, and I knew that Willow would be there because she was in the wedding party. There were nine of us in the wedding party, not counting Taylor and Megan. There was Megan's cousin as the maid of honor and Reagan and Willow as bridesmaids, me as the best man and Zac and Megan's friend Darren as the groomsmen, Zoë as the flower girl and Darren's son Adam as the ring bearer, and Megan's father. I looked around for Willow anxiously the second I stepped out of my car, forgetting Zac and Reagan, who'd also been in the car with me.
"What's up?" Tay asked, greeting me as I entered the church. I merely shook my head.
"Nothing. Have you seen Willow?" I replied.
"No, she isn't here yet. Is something wrong?" he asked, concern filling his voice. I looked at him for a second, then suddenly felt guilty. He was getting married the next day, he had no reason to look so worried. I forced a smile onto my face.
"No, nothing's wrong. I just wanted to see her," I said more softly this time. I put a hand on his shoulder. "So, getting anxious yet?"
Tay smiled. "You have no idea!"
At that time, the minister came over to us to take Taylor away. "Is everyone here?" he asked. Tay looked around quickly.
"Well, I don't see Willow, or Megan's cousin. Let's give them another 10 minutes," he insisted. I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned around to see my mother. I smiled and gave her a hug.
"Hey mom."
"Hi Isaac," she replied. Then she stepped back and looked up into my eyes for a moment, then she nodded a little. I gave her a curious look.
"What are you doing?" I inquired. She only smiled and took my arm as we moved over to the side of the room. Ten minutes passed faster than I thought, and Megan's cousin, Katy, finally showed up. Willow was still MIA. Tay looked at his watch, then at me. I shrugged. "Let's just start."
Tay nodded and went to talk to Megan, then the minister. I stepped outside and looked around, and a car pulled into the parking lot. I smiled, recognizing it as Willow's. I walked over and greeted her as she opened the door.
"Hey, am I late?" she asked, stepping out and locking up the car. I shook my head.
"No, we're just getting ready to begin," I explained. Will sighed a little sigh of relief, then started towards the church. I took her hand and stopped her. "Are you okay, Will? Is everything okay?"
"What do you mean?" she asked, her brow creasing in confusion.
"Yesterday… When you ran away from me, I was worried. Did I do something wrong?" I asked, still holding her hand. Willow smiled a little and stepped over to me.
"No, Isaac. I just ran because I was afraid," she said quietly.
"Of what?"
"Of you. Of my feelings for you. I was afraid that if I stayed, I would have said something that would ruin us," she explained. I smiled and took her other hand.
"Willow, you know that nothing can ruin us. We've passed all tests there are, and we're still best friends. We are invincible," I said, and Will laughed a little. I smiled. "So from now on, don't be afraid. Just be yourself. Nothing bad will happen, I promise you."
Will nodded a little, and took a deep breath. I leaned down and kissed her cheek lightly. "Come on, let's not keep them waiting."
"Are you sure you don't want to stay in Tulsa tonight? I do have that extra bedroom, remember?" I said, smiling. Willow leaned back against the side of her car and smiled.
"Thanks for the offer, but I'll pass. I'll be okay in Chandler for the night," she answered. I raised my eyebrows, and she sighed a little. "Really, Isaac. Brad and Olivia are there with me, Marc left, I'll be fine. Nothing to worry about."
"Okay…" I said hesistantly. I scuffed my feet into the pavement of the road, stalling for more time to spend with her. But our parting was inevitable. "Well, okay. I'm gonna go now."
"Okay," Will agreed. She smiled up at me. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow afternoon then."
"I'm looking forward to it," I said, smiling. I gave Will a hug and leaned down to kiss her cheek. "I can't wait to see how beautiful you'll look."
Willow was blushing as she pulled away, and glanced at me quickly as she got into her car. I waved a little and back up as she pulled her car away from the curb and drove off into the night.
"Megan? Willow and Reagan are here!" my mother yelled up the stairs to me. I was sitting in front of the vanity mirror in my bedroom, staring at myself in disbelief. Almost numbly, I got up and went downstairs. Willow and Reagan each greeted me with a smile and a hug. I smiled in return.
"Hey guys," I said.
"How are you feeling?" Reagan asked, squeezing my hand. I held up my other hand to show them that it was shaking.
"Oh, I'm fine," I joked. Katy and my mother joined us in the hallway, my mother holding the box with my veil in it.
"It's almost 10:00 and we have an appointment for 10:30 at the hair salon. And I promised we'd go get Zoë to go with us. We should get going," she said. She looked around at everyone, then stopped at me. "Goodness, Megan, go change your shirt. You have to wear a button up shirt, remember?"
"Oh, yeah. Sorry," I murmured. I ran back upstairs to my room and changed my shirt quickly. When I came back down, we all went outside. There was a white stretch limo parked on the curb. My jaw dropped. "What is that?"
"Our ride," Reagan informed me with a smile. The driver opened the door for us and we started to get in.
"Did you know about this?" I asked my mother, looking around the inside of the limo in awe. She nodded, grinning. "This must have cost a fortune… I thought we weren't having limos?"
"Yeah, well, Taylor thought he'd surprise you," Mom told me. I felt my eyes fill with tears at how sweet Taylor was, and my mom put her arm around me. "Oh come on now, don't cry."
"I'm sorry, I'm just so… overwhelmed. This is too much," I said, sniffling. Then I laughed a little. "Its great, just a little exasperating. Taylor is so amazing."
My words were returned with a bunch of "aww"s and "that's so sweet"s. After stopping at the Hanson's house to get Zoë, where I was forced to stay inside the limo so I didn't risk running into Taylor, we were off. When we reached the hair salon, Katy, Willow, and I were taken to get our nails done, while Reagan, my mother, and Zoë got their hair done. Then we switched.
"Almost done…" the hairdresser murmured, putting the finishing touches on my hair. When she was done, she twirled the chair around so that I faced the mirror.
"Wow, that looks great. Thank you," I commented, turning my head from side to side and examining the curly up-do that she had created. Then Willow appeared behind me, holding my veil. I smiled at her. "Willow, your hair looks amazing."
"Thanks," she said, smiling. The hairdresser carefully fit the tiara-style veil onto my head and bobby-pinned it in place. I stood up and looked around, grinning.
"Well, what's next?" I said, my voice cracking a little as I tried to remain calm, seeing my mom's eyes fill with tears. I gave her a hug to sooth her. At that point, it was 11:35, and the wedding started in an hour and a half.
"Yeah buddy!" Tay shouted, running over and giving me a high-five.
"Hey guys? It's 11:15!" my mother shouted out the front door. The game dispersed and we all went inside to get ready. By noon, all of us were showered and were nearly finished getting ready.
"Ike, can you help me with this?" Tay asked, having trouble with his cufflinks. I stood back, watching all of the commotion going on around me. Mackie suddenly appeared beside me. I grinned down at him.
"This is nuts," he stated. "Wanna go downstairs and get something to drink?"
"Yeah," I agreed. We went down to the kitchen and raided the refrigerator, grabbing a bunch of sodas and a juice box for Adam. My mother stepped into the kitchen just as we were leaving. She eyed us cautiously.
"Don't spill," she said firmly. I gave her an innocent look.
"Of course not, mom. Trust us," I said sweetly. We brought the drinks upstairs and handed them out to everyone. At 12:30, we all went outside to get into the waiting limo. Just as we were leaving for the church, the florists and the caterers showed up to start decorating the house for the reception.
"She looks great…" I whispered almost silently. Isaac nodded, not taking his eyes off of her. When she and Darren got to the alter, they parted ways, revealing Zac and Reagan who were making their way up the aisle together. I held my breath as they parted, and the entire congregation stood up as the organist began the traditional wedding march.
"Thank you…" she whispered back. I looked down at her for another moment, just memorizing how happy she looked and how brightly she was glowing. Then she replaced her head on my shoulder and we continued to dance the first dance. When that was over, friends and family began to crowd the make-shift wooden dance floor as another song started, and Megan and I headed off across the backyard to our table to take our seats. Isaac was waiting in his chair beside mine, and offered me a wide smile.
"Hey, how many light bulbs does it take to equal the glow that you two are giving off right now?" he joked. Megan laughed a little, and I just winced.
"I don't know, a less amount than the number of minutes it takes for me to find your joke humorous," I teased. He faked a shocked expression.
"Ouch!" he exclaimed, then grinned. Megan sat down and turned to talk to Katy and some of her other friends. Zac came over and sat down beside Isaac.
"Hey guys," he greeted. "Great party, huh? Who died?"
"Funny, Zac," I commented dryly, and Zac offered a silly grin at me.
"I think it was Taylor's sense of humor that died," Ike told Zac, pretending to be telling him discreetly. I rolled my eyes at them.
"Hey, give me a break here. I haven't completely unwound yet, okay?" I said. They smiled evilly at me, and confusion crossed my face. "Uh oh, what?"
"Nothing… I think I'm gonna go grab you another glass of champagne…" Ike trailed off, then got out of his chair.
"Make that two!" I added. "I think my wife would like one too."
"Oh, thanks Ike. You look great too," she replied. I ordered two glasses of champagne for Tay and Megan, then looked back at Willow.
"Did you manage to save me a dance for tonight?" I asked jokingly. Something in Willow's eyes changed, as if a touch of sadness had crept in. She nodded.
"Oh, yeah, no problem. Who else have I to dance with?" she replied lightly. The bartender returned with the champagne, and I took the glasses carefully.
"Well, there's always Taylor, or Zac, or my dad, or…" I continued on our way back to the wedding party's table. Tay and Megan thanked me for their drinks, and I turned to Willow with a smile. "Or you could just save every dance for me."
"That could be arranged…" she agreed, returning my smile.
Later, as evening began to set in and the lights around the yard were turned on, it neared the time for Taylor and Megan to depart. All of the single young women gathered in the center of the dance floor, waiting impatiently for Megan to through her bouquet of flowers. After a lot of teasing and nagging, I managed to get Willow to join the crowd with Reagan. There was a big scramble after Meg tossed the flowers backwards over he shoulders, and I started laughing when I saw that Willow was stuck in the center of it all. As it turned out, Reagan ended up catching the bouquet, and I leaned over to Zac, patting him on the shoulder.
"You know what they say about the girl who catches the bouquet, right?" I asked teasingly. Zac was blushing, and turned to me, rolling his eyes.
"No, Ike, what do they say?" he asked.
"Well, rumor is…"
"Isaac! That was a rhetorical question!" Zac exclaimed. He started to laugh, and stood up to go talk to Reagan. Willow came back to me, slightly fuming.
"Did you see that?" she demanded, sitting down beside me. I smirked.
"What, were you cheated out of catching the flowers?" I teased. Willow glared at me.
"No… I didn't even want to be there. And then all of a sudden, there were these flowers flying at me, and then there were women everywhere, and I was being trampled," she stated. I tried not to laugh.
"Aww, poor baby. That was close though. Wasn't Reagan standing beside you?"
Willow nodded. "Yes. Well, you see, I tried to duck because I thought I was gonna either get hit by the flowers or suffocated by the women, and when I stuck my hands up to shield myself I caught the bouquet. So I shoved it at Reagan."
It was then that I laughed a little. "You caught it? Why would you give it to Reagan?"
"I don't know… I didn't want them," she said simply. I shook my head, smiling. A slow song started, and I offered Willow my hand.
"Do you want to dance?" I asked. She agreed, and we went onto the floor. I took Willow's right hand in mine, and put my arm around her waist as we began to dance. I looked down awkwardly, watching our feet move together, always worried that I would step on her. I am not the most coordinated guy, and I suck at dancing. Willow's dress was shimmering as we slowly danced in circles, and it made a soft swishing sound. I looked up and smiled at her. "You really do look amazing, Willow. If this wasn't my brother's wedding, I'd say you looked even more beautiful than the bride."
A flutter of red swept across her cheeks as she blushed. "Thank you, Isaac." She looked away for a moment, as if embarrassed, then looked back up into my eyes. "Not just for that, but for everything you've done for me lately. You've been my total support system for everything, and I really appreciate that."
"Hey, don't thank me. I'm always there for you, no matter what. It's included in the job description, y'know? Right under 'Best Friends Forever'," I said with a smile. Willow smiled also, and her face lit up, her eyes sparkling in the glow from the white Christmas lights that draped the trees overhead. As the song continued, I pulled her against me and rested my head gently on hers, sighing silently in the peacefulness of the moment.
"Hey Zac, all partied out?" Will asked. I grinned and nodded.
"Oh yeah. There's only so much fun I can take in one day now. I'm not as young as I used to be," I joked, draping my arm across my eyes and sighing dramatically. Will laughed a little. I took my arm away and looked around the back yard, which was looking definitely less crowded. "Hey, have either of you seen Reagan lately? I want to make sure she gets home okay before I go inside and lay down."
"Are you feeling okay?" Ike asked. I shrugged.
"Yeah, but I'm just a little tired and my head is starting to hurt," I told him. Ike grinned.
"A little too much champagne, huh Zac?" he teased. I made a face at him.
"Mom let me have some, okay?" I shot back in playful anger. I looked around again and finally saw Reagan standing on the back porch in her sparkly blue dress, looking around. I stood up and waved at her to come over to the table where I was.
"Oh look, there's Reagan," Isaac commented. I rolled my eyes, smiling.
"Thank you, Captain Obvious," I teased. Isaac scowled, and turned away from me to talk to a laughing Willow. I opened my arms to Reagan when she reached me and gave her a big hug. "There you are. I've been looking like mad all over the place for you."
Reagan smiled secretively. "I was just inside talking to your mother…" she trailed off, giving me an innocent look.
"Uh oh, why were you talking to my mother?" I asked, suddenly on the defensive. Reagan took my hands in hers and started to pull me away from the table.
"No specific reason…" she said teasingly. She peered around me and smiled at Isaac and Willow. "Goodnight! See you later."
"Bye Reagan," they said. I gave her a curious look as we walked hand in hand into my house and followed her upstairs to the room that I used to share with Taylor.
"Okay, what's going on here?" I asked.
"Nothing! Now pack an over night bag, unless you want to wear that tuxedo tomorrow as well," she stated, reaching up and gently tugging on my bow tie, causing it to come loose. I gave her a suspicious look, but grabbed a bag out of the closet and threw in a pair of khakis and an old Aerosmith T-shirt. I grabbed my favorite old sneakers, a pair of scruffy Vans that had seen better days, and tossed those into the bag as well. When I was finished, I raised my eyebrows at my girlfriend.
"Now what?" I asked.
"Now we leave! Come on," she stated, grabbing my hand again. We went down the stairs and I said a brief goodbye to my parents before being dragged out of the house by Reagan. I stopped at my car, ready to unlock it, but she kept walking. Okay, I was really baffled now.
"Reagan?" I called as she walked out of the light of my driveway.
"Are you coming or not?" she called back. I looked uneasily down at the car keys in my hands, then hurried off towards the direction that she had gone. She was waiting for me and took my hand when I reached her. We walked for a little while, until my curiosity got the better of me.
"One more question, then I'm shut off. Really," I said. Reagan nodded. "Where are we going?"
"My house," she answered simply.
"Your house?" I repeated.
"Ah! That's another question! I'm not answering it," she announced, then she grinned at me. Still confused beyond anything, I followed her down the road and around a couple of corners until we got to her house. There was no car in the driveway and all the lights in the house were off, with the exception of the outside porch light. We stopped outside the door as Reagan fumbled with her house keys.
"Um, where are your parents?" I asked as we stepped into the house. Reagan turned on the parlor light and looked happily up at me, putting her arms around my neck.
"Well, they appear to be gone for the evening. And seeing as I get so terribly lonely being here alone at night, I figured that I could use some company," she stated, trying not to smile. I raised my eyebrows a little at her.
"Oh really?" I asked. Reagan nodded, and leaned up to kiss me. I finally grinned. "You are something else…"
"Don't you know it," she said, laughing. She grabbed my hands and pulled me up the stairs and towards her room.
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